River Rally 2026

From Big Bend to Brownsville, communities along the Rio Grande in Texas are confronting a rapidly escalating crisis as the Department of Homeland Security accelerates its plans to construct border wall and buoy barrier infrastructure along the Rio Grande, placing riverfront neighborhoods, public lands, critical infrastructure, and the river’s ecological integrity at immediate risk. This session is designed for a broad audience - advocates, frontline leaders, and technical professionals - and will explore how environmental risks, such as flooding, erosion, and infrastructure threats, directly intersect with environmental justice concerns, including the use of sweeping federal waivers that bypass foundational environmental laws. Participants will hear perspectives from scientists, frontline advocates, and riverfront landowners, gaining both technical insight alongside personal lived experiences from across the Texas border region to illustrate the magnitude of what is at stake. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of how this issue is reshaping water advocacy and with concrete strategies to engage, organize, and actively push back against similar threats in their own communities.