Take a moment to imagine the Texas you’d like to live in twenty years from now. In this vision, are the rivers stagnant? Boat docks abandoned? Swimming holes dried up?

If you said no, you’re probably not alone. And yet that is exactly the future we as a state say we aspire to, through a democratic process that few Texans know or understand.

In legalese, this is called "Desired Future Conditions," and it spells out how much groundwater we can pump from our aquifers between now and 2060. The only problem is, the Desired Future Conditions we’re adopting in most places allow us to pump so much groundwater, there will be less left for springs. And since our rivers depend on the water from below ground to keep them flowing between rains, this also means there won’t be much left in our rivers.

We think the future Texans actually desire looks a lot different than the one we’re creating with every new well we drill. And our goal is to help Texans see how they can reform their water policies to build the future they really want.

Our Desired Future is inspired by:

1. A belief that Texas can grow prosperously while preserving the flowing rivers and streams that make this state a treasure

2. A recognition that protecting these resources will take transformative changes in the way we manage and govern water

3.  A vision of Texans coming together to define a new paradigm for water management