LIV News! Texas Lege Chokes on Water, nice work SAWDF!

Don't choke on water, Lege!

We are very excited to share some good news about success in this session for some meaningful legislation on “the water front,” posted today by the Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund (SAWDF). Congrats go especially to Andy Wier, SAWDF’s super-citizen scientist organizer and Executive Director, for his more than due diligence this last six years!

• Read it here, posted at SAWDF’s site – way to go you water wonks!!! https://www.simsborowaterdefensefund.org/blog/sawdf-legislative-update-may-29-2025

  
  

• There’s also Environmental Stewardship’s engagement of the TCEQ (the “reluctant regulator") regarding wastewater and the Colorado River. Thanks to a great local paper, the Elgin Courier, for this excellent coverage here.

  
  

• There is also the BIG TEXAS water picture related to the passage of a $20B water fund covered written about in the Texas Tribune on May 27.

LIV reserves the right to look skeptically at what is happening with water in Texas. Rep. Helen Kerwin’s HB 1674, a truly bi-partisan bill to address water and land contamination related to “PFAS” aka “forever chemicals” was not passed. A key deadline was missed and we agree with this Texas Tribune article on this urgently important issue that "Texas democracy" does not work for us regular people.

The problem of water contamination is a ticking time bomb that deserved all-hands-on-deck, but the Lege choked.

The “Texas Lege chokes” includes the passage of HB 49. Read this very concerning letter by Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance that makes plain that the oil and gas industry has yet to do the right thing on recycling their wastewater.

Add to this the problems related to the industrialization of Texas by data centers and Bitcoin and you have a bona fide challenge that deserves full vetting as we move into the next election cycle.

Filings for the 2026 election are due in December 2025. Get your independent boots on, Texans.

More soon! And never hesitate to challenge LIV to help you wherever you are in Texas.