The San Antonio City Council has approved a $20.5 million deal to halt development on top of its main water source and help preserve the world's largest bat colony.
Council members voted unanimously on Thursday to spend $10 million toward the purchase of 1,500 acres of land next to the Bracken Cave Preserve in Comal County from a developer.
San Antonio officials said the deal will enhance water quality and quantity in the Edwards Aquifer, the city's primary source of water.
The city joined with Austin-based Bat Conservation International and the Nature Conservancy to purchase the property after learning of a proposed development of up to 3,000 homes. The land is in the bats' flight path and conservationists worried human and bat interaction would harm the animals.
