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
A new web-based land-use tool is available at the Texas Land Trends website
“Snelgrove said users can view 15-year trends in private working lands for such metrics as land use, market value, ownership size and population by county, river basin, eco-region or region of interest. They can also choose different regional areas to make...
Mason Residents Resist Unwelcome Wind Project
Adding a wind farm to its Lone Star energy portfolio in the scenic Texas Hill Country is proving to be much tougher than setting up shop on the high Texas plains for Enel Green Power North America. Folks in Mason, where construction of the wind project is proposed,...
New Report Shows That Vista Ridge Project Would Harm Aquifer Levels
A new report written by groundwater hydrologist, George Rice, uses the state’s own Groundwater Availability Model to predict that the Vista Ridge water supply project would drop water levels and hydraulic (water) pressure hundreds of feet in the Simsboro and Carrizo...
Texas Water Symposium – The San Antonio/Vista Ridge Pipeline: Regional Considerations of a Potential Municipal Water Supply Project
An upcoming Texas Water Symposium (download flyer), set for October 21 in San Antonio will take a close look at the SAWS/Vista Ridge pipeline project. The program will feature a conversation about the regional, financial and ecological considerations of the 142-mile...
Team begins work on giant river cane
Work has begun to fight back against the giant river cane clogging local creeks. Members of the Hill Country Alliance and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department met early Wednesday morning at the recently renovated Frantzen Park to start test plots on treating Arundo...
“We all know that the Hill Country is one of the most beautiful features of Texas”
“And, we know that its springs and pristine rivers are its jewelry,” Con Mims at the HCA Leadership Summit. More than 150 regional leaders assembled in Fredericksburg last week. “Protecting those springs and rivers is an ever increasing challenge as the population of...