Dave Collins
President, Preserve Our Water

Dave Collins fell in love with the Texas Hill Country when he first visited it as a young boy in 1958. "It's the same thing that draws everyone. One of the most powerful of my memories is discovering all of these beautiful, clear-running springs. Where I came from, in the Red Dirt Country, you never saw clear running water!" Although he is a fourth generation Texan, Dave grew up in Oklahoma and remained there to work as a management consultant after receiving a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Oklahoma.

He returned to Texas in 1990 and eventually retired to the Hill Country, to land nearby the Pedernales River, where his Great-Great-Grandmother's Comanche tribe might very well have harvested flint long ago.

Dave is the President of Preserve Our Water (POW), a grassroots, non-profit organization that officially formed in 2006, in response to the Blanco-Pedernales Groundwater Conservation District’s decision to approve the Rockin' J Ranch subdivision's water permit application to pump 185 million gallons of water per year -- one-third of the water available for permitting in the Middle Trinity in Blanco County. After the groundwater district made this "catastrophic decision," some of the members of what came to be POW approached Dave about what to do in response. He stepped up to lead POW in establishing non-profit status and lodging a legal battle against the groundwater district -- efforts that resulted in a successful settlement that included important changes to the management and operations of the Blanco-Pedernales Groundwater Conservation District. POW's two-year lawsuit "was instrumental in drawing attention to what was going on in the area" and, according to Dave, "prevented an absolute train wreck." POW continues to participate in and monitor the groundwater district's activities, particularly as related to the GMA 9 planning for the future of water in the Hill Country, but the organization's primary focus has expanded to include promotion of rainwater harvesting throughout the Hill Country.

Though Dave's work with POW seems like a full plate, he is also engaged in two other areas of activism: Vietnam Veterans Against the War, the group he first joined in 1971, and Pedernales Electric Co-Op (PEC) reform efforts. He also spends time working to develop his property into a wildlife valuation under tax laws, intending to preserve his land for wildlife purposes. Describing his home, Dave comments, "It's a beautiful spot. When I can, I just spend time enjoying it."

Dave's advice for aspiring advocates is simple: "Think strategically." He elaborates, "Realize what resources you do and do not have. Realize the resources and strengths of those who you may find yourself opposing. Balance the impulse to pursue something simply because it's right or a good cause with pursuing things that are realistic and achievable."