Rainmaker 2025 Celebrates Generations of Water Champions
Austin, Texas – More than 350 water professionals, policy makers, and advocates gathered at the Bullock Texas State History Museum on September 30 to honor the 2025 Rainmaker of the Year, Representative Cody Harris. Amidst a feeling of collective celebration, the evening also included several surprises, including a toast from Speaker Dustin Burrows and the presentation of a new Impact Award to Dr. Maria Elena Giner.
Every year, Texas Water Foundation selects a Rainmaker whose work will leave a lasting legacy for Texas water. This year, Representative Cody Harris was selected for the passage of House Joint Resolution 7 and the opportunity to secure dedicated funding for Texas water infrastructure.
The theme of infrastructure funding was carried throughout the evening’s program. In addition to honoring Harris’ work, the program also honored the champions that paved the way to this generational moment in Texas water.
Dedicated funding for water has been a bipartisan policy goal for almost three decades, with various attempts and milestones championed along the way. To honor that history, the evening’s program included an interactive presentation on landmark water legislation, and a video interview with legacy champions. It also included messages to Representative Harris from the Honorable Buster Brown, the Honorable Ron Lewis, the Honorable Ken Armbrister, the Honorable Tommy Williams, the Honorable Kip Averitt, and the Honorable Robert R. Puente.
Joining the evening’s program to celebrate the Rainmaker of the Year, Representative Greg Bonnen offered Representative Cody Harris a personal toast commemorating his hard work and dedication during the 89th Texas Legislature. His toast was followed by a surprise appearance by Texas House of Representatives Speaker Dustin Burrows, who congratulated Harris on his work and leadership by saying, “we knew this was a session where we were going to tackle the most complicated issue, water…I knew there was one person completely up to the task, somebody in which we have all the confidence in the world, and that was you.”
In accepting the award, Harris noted, “Decades of work have gone into this moment…tonight’s celebration of a constitutionally dedicated funding stream is a shared victory. Now this historic funding rests in the hands of the voters as Prop 4 on the November ballot. We are arriving at the climax of a generations-in-the-making water bill. [Water] is a problem… but one I truly believe we can solve if everyone comes to the table with solutions and ideas with a common goal to protect our most precious resource and provide for the opportunity for continued growth and development. It won’t be easy. The conversations will be uncomfortable. But we are mighty Texans and we must roll up our sleeves and hit this head on. Now is the time.”
Harris’s remarks concluded with recognition of the leadership who made it possible for water to be prioritized this year, with particular mention of Senator Charles Perry, whose work and vision galvanized the conversation.
With Proposition 4 before voters on November 4th, Harris and the 89th Legislature met the mark set last century for dedicated funding for water infrastructure.
In addition to celebrating Representative Cody Harris and the water champions who paved the way, Texas Water Foundation commenced the evening with the presentation of a new surprise award. Whereas the Rainmaker of the Year is selected for a particular action that is making a generational impact in Texas water, the Impact Awardee is defined as someone whose body of work is leaving a lasting impact. Continuing on the theme of water infrastructure investment, former International Boundary and Water Commissioner (IBWC) Dr. Maria Elena Giner was named for Texas Water Foundation’s first 2025 Impact Award.
Dr. Giner has served three administrations as both government and presidential appointee and has over 25 years of experience working with U.S. and Mexican federal agencies. When Dr. Giner started at the Border Environment Cooperation Commission in 1998, most small communities along the border had little to no treatment for their sewage. When she left as the Director 20 years later, more than 90 percent did.
During her tenure as the presidentially appointed IBWC Commissioner, she negotiated six historic and binding international agreements (Minutes) with Mexico and directed billions of dollars of investment in critical binational infrastructure. Of particular importance from that tenure is Dr. Giner’s success in building binational trust and collaboration. Under her leadership, Mexico committed to sharing the cost of repairing Amistad Dam, agreed to the first modification of the treaty since 1968 to improve deliveries to Texas, and adopted voluntary conservation measures on the Colorado River. In recognition of this outstanding body of work, TWF Board Member Carlos Rubinstein presented Dr. Maria Elena Giner with the inaugural Impact Award.
At Texas Water Foundation, we are proud to play a role in leading Texas towards a secure water future. We do this by elevating water as a priority through education, leadership, and awareness. Through our Texas Water Leaders program, we train, support, and build trust amongst water professionals who carry this work into the future. In our policy work, we convene partners and provide trusted, non-advocacy education on issues like Proposition 4. Through the statewide water awareness campaign with Texas Water Development Board, we are working to connect every Texan to the value of water and their role in a secure water future.
Texas Water Foundation is proud to bring water champions together each year to recognize the Rainmaker of the Year and highlight the continued pursuit of a water secure future for Texas.
About Representative Cody Harris & Prop 4
Representative Cody Harris is the Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, inheriting the legacy of many champions who have worked towards water funding in the past. In addition to serving as a member of the Texas Water Caucus, Harris served as the House Chair of the State Water Infrastructure Fund Advisory Committee in 2021, and as a member of the Joint Committee on Texas Infrastructure Resiliency Fund Advisory in 2023.
At the top of the list of Harris’ achievements during the 89th Texas Legislature is House Joint Resolution 7, or what Texas voters will see as Proposition 4. Proposition 4 asks voters to approve amending the Texas Constitution to dedicate annually up to $1 billion of sales and use tax revenue to the Texas Water Fund for 20 years.