The mission of the Hill Country Alliance is to bring together a diverse coalition of partners to preserve the open spaces, starry night skies, clean and abundant waters, and unique character of the Texas Hill Country.
Our Work
Land
The Texas Hill Country region covers over 11 million acres in 17 counties of mostly privately held land.
Water
Thirteen Texas rivers begin in the Hill Country and provide water for millions of downstream neighbors.
Night Sky
The Hill Country sits on the edge of night and as development pushes westward, we are losing our view of the night sky.
Community
90% of Hill Country lands are in unincorporated areas where there is little authority to plan for growth.
Collaboration
HCA serves as the backbone organization and fiscal sponsor of the Texas Hill Country Conservation Network.
Latest News
Landowners Win Six Cases Over Compensation Claims Against Pipeline Company
A special commission appointed by District Judge Roy Ferguson to settle compensation claims in eminent domain lawsuits tied to the Trans-Pecos Pipeline has sided with landowners and against the pipeline company – Energy Transfer – in six of seven cases. The...
Texas Supreme Court: Accommodation Doctrine Applies to Groundwater
On May 27, 2016, the Texas Supreme Court issued its opinion in Coyote Lake Ranch, LLC v. City of Lubbock. Many Texas agricultural and water law attorneys were in Lubbock attending the State Bar of Texas Agricultural Law Continuing Legal Education Seminar. As soon as...
USGS Map Reveals Long-Term Changes in America’s Groundwater Quality
Chloride and nitrate concentrations are rising and arsenic levels are holding steady or falling. Those are two of the conclusions from a U.S. Geological Survey assessment of changes in the nation’s groundwater quality in the last two decades. The federal science...
Q&A with Tim Loftus
Trib+Water interview with Tim Loftus: Tim Loftus is a faculty member in the Department of Geography at Texas State University. He also serves as chair in water conservation at the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment. Loftus’s research focuses on water...
Program aims to keep local skies bright with stars, not lights
Members of Keep Utopia Beautiful recently joined Hill Country Alliance program director Cliff Kaplan to encourage Uvalde County Commissioners to support the preservation of dark skies in the area by reducing light pollution. Kaplan, along with Claudia Rogers and...
Eminent Domain and the Landscapes of Texas
A new study looks at the role of eminent domain and condemnation in the changing landscapes of Texas and the Hill Country. Are private companies taking advantage of loose regulations on the use of eminent domain to abuse private property rights? The Texas Hill Country...
Say goodbye to El Niño and hello to La Niña
This year’s monstrous El Nino, nicknamed Godzilla by NASA, is dead. It heated up the globe, ended the Central Texas drought, but didn’t quite end California’s four-year drought. El Niño delivered the promised rains to Central Texas, resulting in periods of deadly...
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