2025 Water Wonks Hour Lecture Series #6: “The 2025 Legislative Session – What we’ve learned, what can we do next?”
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Lecture #6: “The 2025 Legislative Session - what we've learned, what can we do next?
Speaker: Rachel Hanes, Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance Policy Director.
REGISTRATION WILL BE AVAILABLE AFTER MAY 28TH, 2025
Bio: Rachel Hanes holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Spanish from Trinity University in San Antonio, TX and a Master of Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. She has multiple years of experience in the environmental and water policy fields and in working within and with non-profits and local, state, and federal governments.
Before joining GEAA, Rachel served for three years as a program analyst for the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation in the Reclamation Law Administration Division and later in the Colorado River Binational Program, working to help manage and conserve water in the West.
Rachel has also worked for the Natural Resources Defense Council on their decarbonization efforts, the City of Pittsburgh Department of Mobility and Infrastructure on their Complete Streets and green infrastructure initiatives, the Tarrant County Tarrant Transit Alliance, the Office of Congressman Joaquin Castro, the League of United Latin American Citizens on environmental issues along the border, and the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center in San Antonio on local water issues.
A Texas native, Rachel grew up in Fort Worth and made frequent trips throughout Hill Country. After short stints in Pittsburgh, Washington, DC, and Denver, Rachel is thrilled to be back in San Antonio, where she can merge her interests in water and environmental policy with her love of her home state and adopted city.
Synopsis:
The 2025 Legislative Session will wrap up on June 2, 2025 (unless the Governor calls a special session). We’ll look back at what priority water bills made it through every step of the legislative process and will be enacted into law, what bills failed to advance this year, and the impact these successful or failed bills will have on the state of Central Texas water. We’ll then look forward to the next year and a half and explain what happens between now and the next legislative session in 2027 and how we’ll prepare to keep advocating for responsible water legislation.
