Our Work
Land
HCA’s Land Program seeks to increase private land stewardship and permanent land conservation across the Hill Country, and works with regional land trusts to educate owners about conservation easements, track conservation metrics, and consider conservation priorities.
Water
HCA’s Water Program assists grassroots groups that champion water stewardship in their communities, advocates for policies that protect groundwater and surface water, and promotes resilient water supplies through the advancement of One Water projects.
Night Sky
HCA’s Night Skies Program helps Hill Country counties and cities minimize the impacts of light pollution through education and outreach, the establishment of outdoor lighting policies, and the recognition and celebration of certified Dark Sky Places in our region.
Communities
HCA’s Communities Program builds connections across county lines, supporting rural leaders in protecting the unique character of their communities while promoting innovative approaches to building healthy, vibrant communities throughout the Texas Hill Country.
The Latest
As Texans are exposed to dangerous pesticides, lawmakers aren’t doing anything
In the interim between legislative sessions, Texas lawmakers on the House Agriculture Committee will have an opportunity to examine an important but under-the-radar problem that’s making people sick in farming communities across the state. Then again, their attention...
Well water tests underway after pipeline crew hits Karst feature
Discolored water from wells near the Kinder Morgan Permian Highway Pipeline is causing distress. Test results on the water, taken where the pipeline is about to cross the Blanco River, are expected soon from a Lower Colorado River Authority laboratory. Once the...
Newly detected moth threatens prickly pear in Texas
Texas is now the front line of an ecological battle pitting a devastating invasive moth against the state’s ubiquitous prickly pear cactus. Already, the South American cactus moth has laid waste to the cactus population in Florida, having come ashore there roughly 30...
Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District delays drought cutbacks
Press Release: Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District - For Immediate Release: April 3, 2020 At the April 2 Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District Board meeting, District Directors voted to delay an order that would put the Jacobs Well Groundwater...
Huge feral hogs invading Canada, building ‘pigloos’ as they go
Feral swine, the offspring of wild boars and domestic pigs, are spreading through Canada into areas where many didn’t think they could survive. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, some Canadian farmers imported wild boars from Europe to raise for meat. But as wild...
The COVID-19 crisis and our water: Part 1
As people stocked up on food and essential items for their time at home to help slow the spread of the COVID-19, I saw shopping carts full of bottled water. Television shots and videos on social media of shoppers often showed the same thing. It seems that over the...