Our Water Is Not for Sale. Help Me Protect It.

Every glass of water in San Antonio starts on open land. Rain falls on the Hill Country, soaks through limestone over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone, and comes out of your tap. Roughly two million of us drink from that one aquifer. No backup works the same way.

That land is now the most contested ground in Texas.

More than 20 data centers are already operating in the San Antonio area, with more on the drawing board. Two of them used 463 million gallons of water in 2023 and 2024, during the same drought that had the rest of us watering our yards once a week. In water-stressed Medina County, eight billion-dollar-scale projects sit on Edwards Aquifer territory. Statewide, data centers used an estimated 25 billion gallons last year, and that number could grow more than sixfold by 2030. And when the state asked them to report their water use, more than 80 percent did not answer.

I work for Green Spaces Alliance because we do the one thing that a permit or rezoning can't undo. When a family places a conservation easement on their ranch over the recharge zone, that land is protected forever. It cannot become a server farm. It cannot be paved. It keeps filtering our water for every generation that comes after us. GSA has helped protect more than 65,000 acres this way, and every acre started with a conversation and a landowner who decided to say no to the highest bidder.

I grew up in San Antonio, and I remember the water restrictions and floods just like we have today. I never imagined we'd have to fight to protect our water.

Here is my ask. GSA's Big Give goal is $5,000, and I want to raise $250 of it from the people in my life. Gifts start at $5. A $100 gift helps a landowner take the first steps toward protecting their land for good. There is no gift too small, because the fight for our water is not going to be won by one big check. Thousands of people will win it by deciding the aquifer is theirs to protect.

Give before 6 pm on Thursday, September 24. Early giving is open, so your gift counts today. Then share this page with one person who drinks San Antonio water. That is everyone you know.

Thank you for giving big, and for standing with me on this.

Mary