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
The state of Texas water infrastructure
Earlier this month, during a special session of the Texas Legislature, the Texas Capitol flooded. After the water stopped cascading down the pink granite walls inside the Capitol extension, the Legislature resumed its deliberations. The August flood was preceded by...
Ranch fever: Pandemic drives city slickers to seek out room to roam
The allure of wide-open spaces is drawing people to snatch up rural land in Texas at a record pace. Ranch sales in the state nearly doubled between the second quarter of 2021 and the previous year, according to data from the Texas A&M Real Estate Center. While the...
Wild rice sues to stop oil pipeline
In 2018, the White Earth Band of Ojibwe and the 1855 Treaty Authority, an organization that upholds treaty rights for Chippewa bands, enacted legal personhood for manoomin -- wild rice. Manoomin, which translates to “good berry” in Ojibwe, is a sacred food for...
Comal County seeks grants for conservation purchases
Preserving Comal County’s wide-open spaces hasn’t been at the top of the county’s to-do list, but commissioners took steps in that direction last week. Last Thursday, they selected Moriarty & Associates LLC to pursue funding for county land acquisitions for...
40 million people rely on the Colorado River. It’s drying up fast.
On a 110-degree day several years ago, surrounded by piles of sand and rock in the desert outside Las Vegas, I stepped into a yellow cage large enough to fit three standing adults and was lowered 600 feet through a black hole into the ground. There, at the bottom,...
Texas Water Utilities provide a snapshot of financial conditions and prospects for addressing Texas water infrastructure needs in 2021 and 2022
Recently, Water Opinions LLC teamed up with the Texas Water Infrastructure Network (TXWIN) for the second annual assessment of current and future Texas water infrastructure projects, financing, and other issues facing Texas water utilities. TXWIN distributed the...
Deal to preserve Honey Creek moves forward with Texas Parks and Wildlife approval
A land deal that could forever preserve a pristine Hill Country stream north of San Antonio moved forward with approval from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department commissioners. Commissioners on Thursday unanimously voted in favor of a land deal involving the...
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