Save Our Springs Alliance Sues to Stop Work on Water Treatment Plant that Would Draw from Lake Travis

30th July, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments

The Statesman had this article today, noting that the Save Our Springs Alliance has sued to stop work on a $500 million water treatment plant. The Save Our Springs Alliance claims that the city of Austin is violating federal law by building the treatment plant before conducting the required environmental studies.  Here’s an excerpt:

“They’re building the plant while they’re doing the studies,” said Bill Bunch , Save Our Springs’ executive director. “The regulations are quite clear on this: You can’t take actions that prejudice the outcome (of environmental studies), and deciding to the build the plant first prejudices the outcome.”

City officials say the water treatment plant must be built now and is necessary to ensure that Austin avoids shortages as its population grows. The fight over the plant dates back a quarter century, but in October, a split City Council gave the key approval to proceed….Since the October vote, the city has spent tens of millions of dollars on engineering and preparation of the site, which is off Bullick Hollow Road near the Oasis restaurant.

The article notes that 4 members of city council support building the plant, and 3 oppose it.

Lake Travis

Lake Travis

photo credit

Restaurant Review Friday — Somnio’s Cafe

30th July, 2010 - Posted by carsi - No Comments

I went to lunch at Somnio’s Cafe yesterday with my friend Melissa, and everything we ordered was really delicious. I had the Uncle Bob salad, which came with quite a bit of shredded beets on top and a slightly tangy honey soy vinaigrette with a little kick:

apologies for the cell phone pictures

I also ordered the Nynavae’s Tacos–fried mushroom goodness with a crunchy, spicy slaw of jalapeno, cabbage, and carrots:


It was served with chips and salsa, but by the time  I got around to those, I was too full. The tacos are pretty substantial–I didn’t even need the salad. Melissa ordered the hummus wrap with chicken and the tomato soup and had only good things to report:

We both had our Go Local cards with us (and remembered to use them!) so we each got a free drink out of the deal. Both of us ordered the Lavender Earl Grey iced tea, which I thought was a nice twist on the basic early grey, but if the taste of lavender reminds you of soap, another tea might be a better choice.

This place is also a great local business to support because they strive to use all local and organic produce and grass-fed, humanely treated, local meat. It says on their menu that they recycle, provide compostable-recycled disposables, use waste water to water the plants, and compost. There’s just not much else I can think of to make a restaurant more eco-friendly. Also, located on South First, this little restaurant is surrounded by large trees and has a nice little vibe going on. I’ll definitely be back to try out other items on their diverse menu.