A Vision for Hill Country Watershed Regeneration

For years, the Texas Hill Country has been a focus for Terra Advocati and Bryan Hummel of Water Ranching. While much of our work has taken us across regions and borders building partnerships, capacity, and momentum, the long term vision has always been clear. Bring that experience home and apply it where it is needed most.

Now, with a growing network of collaborators and a shared sense of purpose, we are turning our attention fully to watershed regeneration in the Texas Hill Country.

A Water Producing Landscape

The Edwards Plateau and surrounding Hill Country form one of the most unique hydrological landscapes in North America. This is a water producing region, defined by fractured limestone, karst geology, and interconnected aquifers that feed springs, rivers, and communities across Texas.

Gunnar Brune, Springs of Texas, volume 1. Forth Worth, Tex., Branch-Smith, Inc., 1981.

Major river systems such as the Nueces River, Medina River, and San Antonio River all originate in this region. What happens here does not stay here. It moves downstream, shaping water availability, ecosystems, and economies far beyond the Hill Country.

What Is Changing

For generations, these landscapes functioned as living sponges. Rainfall moved slowly across the land, soaking into healthy soils, recharging aquifers, and sustaining spring flow over time.

That balance is shifting.

Rapid development, land fragmentation, and changing land management practices are placing increasing pressure on water resources. At the same time, rainfall patterns are becoming more extreme. Instead of steady, soaking rains, we are seeing boom and bust cycles. Intense storms followed by extended dry periods.

When water hits degraded or compacted soils, it does not infiltrate. It runs off.

This creates a cascade of challenges. Flash flooding becomes more severe. Aquifer recharge declines. Wells begin to drop or run dry. Communities are forced to drill deeper, increasing cost and uncertainty.

We are already seeing the broader implications. Cities like Corpus Christi are facing mounting water supply concerns that could impact industry, jobs, and long term economic stability. Water scarcity at that scale does not remain local. It ripples outward across regions and sectors.

Recent events, including the Guadalupe River floods of July 2025, have underscored the stakes. With more than 100 lives lost in a single event, the cost of unmanaged water moving too quickly across the landscape is clear.

Starting at the Top

We believe the path forward begins in the headwaters.

If the Hill Country is where many of these systems begin, then it is also where meaningful solutions can take root. By restoring the land’s natural ability to absorb and hold water, we can begin to shift outcomes across entire watersheds.

One of the most practical and scalable tools available is the use of conservation swales and terraces placed on contour. These systems are designed to slow, spread, sink, soak, and store rainfall where it falls. Instead of rushing downstream, water is held on the land, allowed to infiltrate, and naturally filtered through the soil profile.

The result is a transformation. Flash flooding liabilities become groundwater assets. Erosion is reduced. Soil health improves. Vegetation becomes more resilient. Water stays in the system longer, supporting both people and ecosystems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80Xd9EabJfs

A Multi Pronged Approach

This is not a single solution problem. It requires coordination across disciplines, sectors, and communities.

Terra Advocati is looking to bring together partners across the landscape, including conservation organizations, public agencies, landowners, and other regional partners, alongside community based organizations and practitioners already doing this work on the ground.

We are also focused on unlocking funding pathways that can support large scale implementation. This includes private philanthropy, foundation support, conservation funding, and emerging water replenishment investments from the private sector.

The goal is simple. Get resources into the right places and into the hands of people who know how to do the work.

Building a Movement

Scaling this effort will require more than funding. It will require people.

We are actively exploring the development of an earthworks and watershed restoration training program that can equip a new generation of practitioners with the skills needed to design, map, and implement these systems across the Hill Country. From LiDAR based mapping to on the ground excavation, this is an opportunity to create meaningful work while addressing one of the most pressing challenges of our time.

At the same time, Terra Advocati will serve as a hub for accessible knowledge. We are preparing to release a wide range of free resources for the community.

These resources are meant to empower landowners, communities, and local leaders to take action.

Creating Abundance

There is a choice in front of us.

We can continue on a path that leads toward increasing scarcity and risk, or we can invest in systems that create resilience and abundance. The Texas Hill Country has always been a place of natural wealth. With the right approach, it can continue to be.

This work is already underway. Practitioners like Symbiosis TX and Drought Proof Texas are contributing important pieces to this larger effort, alongside many others who are stepping into this space.

It will take all of us.

Stay tuned. Terra Advocati will be rolling out new resources, partnerships, and opportunities to engage in this work very soon.