Tell the U.S. Department of Agriculture: do not rescind the Roadless Rule.Urgent Action Required for Texas Water Security and River Conservation

Rio Grande, Texas | Sinjin Eberle

Sign your support to protect wild rivers, conserve healthy rivers, and restore damaged rivers in Texas

Texas rivers are in trouble. The state's extraordinary growth is placing new demands on water resources and infrastructure, and without wise management and thoughtful planning, Texas's economy and invaluable aquifers, springs, creeks and rivers are at risk.

But it isn't too late. You can take two critical steps today to help protect Texas rivers.

Sign the letter below and urge elected leaders to conserve and restore the rivers that define Texas
Find and support local groups who do the critical work of protecting, restoring, and studying Texas rivers.

*This action alert is a collaboration between American Rivers, Fin and Fur Films, and Deep in the Heart 2: Texas Rivers. Only available for Texas Residents.

About You

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

Address

City

State

Zip Code

Mobile Phone (optional)

By entering my mobile number and checking this box, I agree to receive recurring text messages from American Rivers. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to cancel.

Personalize Your Letter

Lieutenant Governor

Dan

Patrick

Texas

Dear {contact_data~salutation},

We, the undersigned residents of Texas, call on our elected leaders to wisely manage our state's water resources and to protect, conserve, and restore the rivers that define our state.

Texas's extraordinary growth is placing new demands on water resources and infrastructure. The next generation of water policy should protect both the water supplies that support our society, culture, and economy, along with the aquifers, springs, creeks, rivers, and floodplains that provide invaluable natural services such as flood mitigation, water storage, water purification, wildlife habitat, and recreation.

Currently, nearly all of our aquifers are being depleted at an unsustainable rate, resulting in the loss of hundreds of springs and thousands of miles of our creeks and rivers. These degraded watersheds are leaving Texans increasingly exposed to the risks of extreme flooding, prolonged drought, and water insecurity.

Water is finite and by far the most precious resource in our state. Short-sighted management threatens our economy, our environment, and our safety. The good news is that we can restore and conserve our rivers.  We need your help.

We urge our leaders to:
1. Stop unsustainable aquifer depletion — strengthen existing GCDs and enforce pumping limits statewide to protect groundwater and springs.
2. Manage floodplains as flood/drought infrastructure — invest in restoring river floodplains and protecting wetlands and riparian corridors to act as critical water infrastructure that will mitigate flood damage and store water through droughts.
3. Prioritize conservation & repair — expand funding for water efficiency, agricultural conservation, aging-infrastructure repair, and evaporation reduction.
4. Protect environmental flows — guarantee river and bay flows sufficient for fisheries, recreation, and wildlife.
5. Plan for extreme weather — update state water plans for hotter droughts, less precipitation, and more intense floods.
6. Close the Rule of Capture gap — bring science-based groundwater management to the ~81 counties outside any GCD, prioritizing areas that face high-volume industrial demand such as data centers.
7. Remove unneeded dams and stop further dam construction - Texas currently has over 7,000 dams, many of which aren’t needed. They waste massive quantities of water through evaporation, incise channels, block sediment, stop fish migrations, cost billions to maintain, fall into disrepair, and carry enormous safety risks to communities downstream if they fail.
8. Dedicate a greater portion of the Prop 4 Funds towards nature-based solutions to strengthen our rivers and natural water infrastructure through conservation easements, wetland restoration, and river bottom land acquisition to be held as state parks or wildlife management areas.
9. Protect our last pristine streams from wastewater pollution — Ensure sewage discharge permits protect the watersheds into which they are released.

Water is essential to who we are as Texans. We ask you to act today to ensure a resilient, water-secure Texas for generations to come. Our culture and our very lives depend on it.

Sincerely,

{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}
{user_data~Address}
{user_data~City}, {user_data~State}
{user_data~Zip Code}
{user_data~Email Address}

Subscribe to Emails

I would like to subscribe to all American Rivers emails.