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
Lights off for the love of lightning bugs
For the love of lightning bugs, experts ask people to turn off as many exterior lights as possible during peak mating months. Artificial lights have eradicated large populations of lightning bugs in East Tennessee and across the developed world. "Light pollution is a...
Opinion: What San Antonio should learn from Melbourne
San Antonio just made it through one of the worst droughts in Texas history. Climate change means we’ll have more — unpredictably longer and more intense. Is San Antonio prepared? Nope. And the San Antonio Water System is leading us the wrong direction. Express-News...
Leaving land alone to hold floodwater west of Houston
Houston sprawls for miles, but we went to where that sprawl stops. “I think if you’d listen for a minute, you don’t hear any cars,” says Mary Anne Piacentini as she stands near a pond on the Katy Prairie 45 miles west of downtown Houston. “We protect over 20,000 acres...
Adler drops surprise $720M mobility bond proposal
Mayor Steve Adler has blasted into the middle of the ongoing conversation about a November mobility bond election by proposing an estimated $720 million package of projects along Austin’s most vital arterials. In a closed-door speech before the Greater Austin Chamber...
In Weighty Water Ruling, Texas’ High Court Backs Landowner
The Texas Supreme Court has strengthened protections for landowners who don’t have rights to the water underneath their property. In a ruling Friday, the state’s highest civil court said Texas' “accommodation doctrine” should also apply to groundwater, in addition to...
Why become a Texas Master Naturalist?
The Hill Country Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists are now accepting applications for the class of 2016. The mission of the Texas Master Naturalist program is to develop a corps of well-informed volunteers to provide education, outreach, and service dedicated to...
Unplugging the Colorado River
WEDGED between Arizona and Utah, less than 20 miles upriver from the Grand Canyon, a soaring concrete wall nearly the height of two football fields blocks the flow of the Colorado River. There, at Glen Canyon Dam, the river is turned back on itself, drowning more than...
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