The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country says it will award $14 million in grant funding for ecological and river restoration efforts, including $9 million for Kerrville parks and public spaces that were damaged in last summer’s Guadalupe River deadly flooding.
“The July 4 flood disrupted an entire system — ecological, economic and social,” foundation CEO Austin Dickson said in a written statement. “This investment is designed to restore that system with intention by rebuilding the river corridor, reinvesting in public spaces and establishing a long-term culture of stewardship. Healthy river systems and restored public spaces help reduce flood risk and strengthen community safety.”
The foundation has raised more than $100 million for flood recovery since last summer. In January, it awarded a $10 million grant to LiftFund, a San Antonio-based nonprofit, to provide grants and loans to small businesses affected by the flooding, which killed 119 people in Kerr County and damaged thousands of properties.
The latest grants, announced this week, focus on environmental projects and public parks.
The largest of those is $9.2 million for rebuilding Louise Hays Park, Guadalupe Park and the Kerrville River Trail, which sit along the river and sustained major damage from the flood.
“Louise Hays Park is a cornerstone of this community, and this investment allows us to rebuild it in a way that is stronger and more resilient,” Kerrville Parks and Recreation Director Jay Brimhall said in a written statement. “These improvements will restore a vital public space and help ensure that residents and visitors can safely reconnect with the river for years to come. This is about creating a space that reflects both the needs of today and the future of this community.”
The foundation also announced a $3 million grant to the San Antonio Botanical Garden’s Texas Recovery for Ecological and Environmental Stability Initiative, which is aiming to grow and plant 50,000 native trees to replace those lost in the flood.
Garden staff and volunteers collected hundreds of thousands of seeds from the upper Guadalupe watershed, and the garden and partner nurseries are now growing seedlings, with plans for the first plantings along the river next fall.
The Hill Country Alliance, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group, will receive $1.5 million to “lead a basin-wide restoration strategy.”
“Restoring the Guadalupe River requires a basin-wide approach that connects land, water and people,” Executive Director Katherine Romans said in a statement. “By working with landowners across the region, we are helping restore native landscapes, reduce runoff and strengthen the resilience of the entire watershed for the long term.”
The Upper Guadalupe River Authority, which manages the river’s watershed in Kerr County, was awarded $180,000 for expanding its invasive species removal work. The agency has been working since 2018 with Texas Parks and Wildlife to remove invasive plants — Arundo donax, also called giant cane or giant reed, and elephant ears — from the watershed, but has seen an increase in those species since the flood.
Arundo is particularly problematic because it crowds out native species, alters the wildlife habitat, uses more water than native species and is highly flammable. It spreads quickly and easily through fragmentation — so while the flood damaged other vegetation, it helped the arundo spread.
UGRA applied to the community foundation for funding to increase the invasive removal work for the next three years. It will use the grant funding to pay for a temporary staff member to survey properties for the invasive species and to pay Texas Parks and Wildlife for additional hours spraying the plants with approved herbicides.
Dickson, the foundation’s CEO, is a member of UGRA’s board of directors, and has recused himself from the board’s recent discussions and votes related to the funding.
The foundation also announced an additional $150,420 to the Kerr County River Foundation, a recently-created nonprofit. The money will “support volunteer-led river restoration efforts and design a new, resilient Lions Park,” the Community Foundation said.
The park sits along the Guadalupe in Center Point, southwest of Kerrville, and much of its infrastructure was damaged or lost in the flood. The river foundation is working on plans to rebuild the park in a way that is “more resilient, more beautiful, and more connected to the river,” according to its website.
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