ATX-BAS: Impact 2/19/2026

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Bastrop police apply for $20K wellness training grant

The Bastrop Police Department is seeking $20,000 in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Justice to finance mental and physical wellness training and programs for its officers throughout the year.

The details: The mental and physical wellness training and programs would also feature:

Workshops
Quarterly training
Retirement readiness

What it means: If approved, Bastrop Police Chief Vicky Steffanic told Bastrop City Council the department would sign a professional service agreement with a Dallas-based company that has a variety of resources, such as doctors and nutritionists.

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5 things to know: A plain-language guide to Bastrop’s proposed development code

In Your Neighborhood

Bastrop County’s past gets a digital home

The Bastrop County Historical Commission launched a new website in February, where an online series shares the history of Bastrop County.

Zooming in: That history—which is told through photos, videos, audio clips and more—highlights stories such as:

Bastrop County was one of the original four Anglo settlements in Mexico before Texas became a nation
“The King’s Highway,” a 17th-century Spanish colonial route that spans approximately 2,500 miles from Mexico to Louisiana
The city of Bastrop nearly became the capital of the Republic of Texas

Why it matters: “Historians all around the county have spent countless hours researching their passion projects to give you these experiences,” Bastrop County Historical Commission Chairman Ken Kesselus said. “We invite you to explore our improved website and walk in the shoes of those who came before us.”

Get a closer look.

Key Information

New LCRA reservoir could add 13B gallons to Central Texas water supply

The Lower Colorado River Authority is conducting studies to determine if a site northwest of Eagle Lake in Colorado County would be suitable for a new, larger water reservoir.

The details: LCRA already owns the 2,000-acre site, which could add over 13 billion gallons to the Central Texas water supply amid growing water needs.

Two-minute impact: The river authority, which supplies water and hydroelectric power to many communities throughout Central Texas, is exploring plans to build a new reservoir that could hold up to 90,000 acre feet of water. That would make it larger than the recently opened Arbuckle Reservoir, or two to three times the capacity of Lake Travis.

Why now? A new reservoir off the river authority's main channel was established in its Water Supply Resource Report, an overview of strategies to address regional water needs, that was approved last year, according to a Feb. 19 news release.