The board that oversees Texas’s 216 local soil and water conservation districts opens its members’ annual convention at 7 a.m. Sept. 28 with a vote on whether certain landowners may collect state water-quality money a second time.
The Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board pays part of the cost when a farmer, rancher or timber owner puts in the practices called for by a water quality management plan — the site-specific conservation plan a landowner works out through the local district and the state board certifies. State rules let a single operation draw that money once. A waiver lets it draw again, and only in five situations: research shows the plan needs more work to meet state water standards; the operation expands or its animal waste output rises sharply; tighter measures become necessary; a new owner has taken over someone else’s maintenance agreement; or a law passed since the first payment now requires a practice the landowner does not have.
The board takes those requests one at a time and in consultation with the local district. A separate item asks it to release plan money the board holds centrally rather than parceling out to a particular district. How much a single operation may receive is not written into the rule — the board sets that figure itself each budget cycle, and no current amount is published.
Two smaller votes concern how the districts govern themselves. Each district is run by five directors, elected only by agricultural landowners, one from each of five areas the district is carved into. When a seat opens mid-term the remaining directors choose a replacement, and the state board must approve the choice before the appointee can serve; that ratification is on the agenda. So is a request from the Dimmitt-based Running Water district in the Panhandle to redraw the internal lines that decide where its directors come from.
It is the board’s first September meeting under Kendria Ray, who became executive director June 1 after her predecessor’s retirement ended a 23-year run at the top of the agency. The early start clears the way for what follows: the 86th annual meeting of district directors, at the same Round Rock resort, runs through Sept. 29. The board will also pick where the 2028 and 2029 conventions go, and set the date of its own next meeting.
Meeting at a glance
- When
- 7 a.m. CT Monday, September 28, 2026. Notice TRD 2026005591 was filed September 17.
- Where
- Kalahari Resort, 3001 Kalahari Blvd., Round Rock — the venue for the agency’s annual convention of district directors, which the meeting opens.
- Governing body & chair
- Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board — seven members: five landowners elected by local district directors from five areas of the state, two appointed by the governor. Chairman Scott Buckles. No seat is vacant.
- Format
- Regular state board meeting, 13 items, opening with public comment. The notice reserves the right to go into closed session on any item.
- Live video
- None announced. The agency has webcast board meetings in the past but posted no stream for this one.
- Full agenda
- Secretary of State Open Meeting Viewer · State board meetings
Board members
- Scott Buckles — chairman; Stratford; elected 2011; Panhandle and South Plains area.
- José Dodier Jr. — vice chairman; Zapata; elected 2005; chairs the Zapata district.
- Joe Freeman — Llano; elected 2024; fifth-generation rancher.
- David Basinger — Deport; elected 2018; farms the Sulphur River bottom.
- Barry Mahler — Iowa Park; elected 2007; cotton and wheat farmer.
- Lindsey Bowers — Inez; appointed by the governor June 2026; term to 2028.
- James Clement III — Kingsville; appointed 2025; rancher; term to 2027.
Roster from the agency’s board page and staff directory, checked September 21 and cross-checked against the governor’s appointment releases. Bowers took the seat held by Tina Yturria Buford of Harlingen, whose term expired February 1. Executive Director Kendria Ray, a 25-year veteran of the agency, succeeded Rex Isom on June 1. Agency headquarters is in Temple. Meeting contact: Karen Preece, 254-773-2250.