About the Colorado River Alliance
The Alliance’s primary goal is to educate today’s youth to become tomorrow’s leaders, ensuring a legacy of a healthy river, sustainable use of water resources, and communities dedicated to protection and conservation.
Founded in 1994 with support from LCRA, the Alliance is now a standalone 501(c)3 leading programs which reach 14,000 community members and school children annually. The Colorado River Alliance continues to partner with LCRA to provide river stewardship education and to be a champion for the people, ecosystems, communities, and businesses that depend on this essential natural resource.
Education
Engagement
Our Vision
A day when the Texas Colorado River is valued
and protected by all
Our Mission
To champion the long-term vitality of the
Texas Colorado River
Our Purpose
Reach every Texan with a message of the River’s
importance
Why
A healthy, flowing river is imperative to the long-term well-being of the communities through which it runs.
How
With a commitment to innovation and collaboration, the Alliance provides educational and engagement activities that empower Texans with knowledge and tools to protect the Texas Colorado River and ensure its long-term vitality.
By crafting meaningful, memorable hands-on experiences and providing access to information about the River; always with a commitment to innovation and collaboration.
Educate & Engage
14,000
people
reached by our programs every year
Protect
10,000
lbs
of trash removed from the river every year
Conserve
78
billion
gallons of water conserved every year
Innovative programs, inclusive outreach, community engagement
Keeping our river fishable, swimmable, and drinkable for generations
See our latest Impact ReportMeet our team
Adrienne Longenecker, CFRE leads from a deep belief that presence and relationship can change how people connect with one another and with the world around them. A mom, daughter, sister, and lifelong mover, she finds stillness of mind through body awareness, yoga, and long walks. Before building her career in nonprofit leadership, Adrienne earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Texas at Austin and worked as a professional modern dancer, training and performing from coast to coast.
Today, Adrienne brings that embodied, relational approach to her work as Executive Director of Colorado River Alliance. In this role, she drives the organization’s strategic growth and leads a talented staff team whose youth education and community outreach programs inspire the conservation of billions of gallons of water each year. Across the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, she has built an impressive career as a creative problem solver, visionary executive, and relationship steward.
A sought-after presenter and keynote speaker, Adrienne blends leadership lessons with practices of intention through body and breath awareness. She is a compassionate community servant known for vision, creativity, and revenue building. She volunteers as Chair-Elect of the Association of Fundraising Professionals to give back to the organization that helped grow her career and to help ensure professional fundraisers can build lives marked by purpose, sustainability, and meaningful income.
Adrienne’s work has been featured in several publications, including the New York Times and Advancing Philanthropy. In 2025, she was honored as an Outstanding Professional Fundraiser by the Greater Austin Chapter of Fundraising Professionals.
Erica Castillo, Programs Director at the Colorado River Alliance, leads the development and management of education, outreach, and engagement programs that connect communities with the vital importance of the Texas Colorado River. Erica possesses over two decades of experience in program operations and nonprofit leadership having previously served as Senior Dental Operations Officer for the St. David’s Foundation Dental Program, dedicating 23 years to advancing community health through various leadership roles.
A proud graduate of Concordia University Texas, Erica holds a master's degree in business administration. Erica is passionate about building collaborative partnerships, expanding impactful programs, and cultivating strong volunteer teams. Outside of work, Erica enjoys traveling and spending cozy movie nights with her family—always finding balance between making a difference and making memories.
As the Development and Communications Director, Christine unites the Colorado River Alliance community to champion the long-term vitality of the Texas Colorado River. Christine works to develop meaningful partnerships and relationships to raise funds to support the mission of Colorado River Alliance while leading brand strategy and communications to deepen engagement and awareness for our state's lifeblood and greatest natural resource.
Christine has built her career in the development of relationships. Prior to Colorado River Alliance, Christine served as the Associate Director of Growth at Code2College where she spearheaded the organization's Stakeholder Success department and as the Director of Nonprofit & Customer Relationships at I Live I Give Here where she contributed to the community-wide success of Central Texas' Amplify Austin Day and Giving Tuesday campaigns, raising over $100M for hundreds of Central Texas nonprofits during her tenure. Christine received her Bachelor of Arts from Trinity University.
In her free time, Christine likes to get outside with her family including two young boys and a rescue pup. You can typically find the Herlins out on the trail, at a local park, or fixing up their 1990's pop-up camper for riverside camping weekends.
As the Program Coordinator for the Alliance, Rachel leads the Mobile River program which educates students and community members on the Texas Colorado River watershed and human interaction with local water sources. This program brings a 42-foot trailer full of interactive activities directly to middle school campuses and community events, reaching populations locally and across hundreds of miles of the Colorado River basin. In addition to the Mobile River program, Rachel assists the Alliance’s Internship and Volunteer programs by helping oversee the development of a passionate group of interns.
Rachel was born and raised in Austin and stayed local to attend the University of Texas, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science and Arts in Human Ecology with minors in Spanish and Business. When she’s not at work, you can find Rachel playing guitar at an open mic, completing the New York Times mini games, or swimming at Barton Springs. Just as she spent countless hours of her childhood playing in Williamson Creek and other areas of the Colorado River, Rachel hopes her work here can help guarantee other Central Texas kids a clean local waterway for generations to come.
Program Specialist Brandi Pumphrey leads and supports K–5 educational programs for the Colorado River Alliance, including a K–2 assembly-style programs that introduce young Texans to conservation and stewardship actions they can take, and the 3–5 field trip program at the Wilkerson Center for Environmental Education. Through the Wilkerson Center program, Students learn about the water cycle, the local water system, dams, waterways, and the Colorado River. In addition, Brandi works closely with the Alliance’s volunteer and internship programs, helping oversee, train and develop the dedicated interns who facilitate field trips and assemblies.
Brandi is a proud graduate of the University of Dayton, where she earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Education. With more than a decade of classroom experience and a background in green energy, she brings a unique blend of skills and passion to CRA’s educational programming. Brandi is passionate about lifelong learning, and hopes to help instill conservation awareness, and stewardship in younger generations.
In her free time, Brandi enjoys traveling, gardening, and being on the water. She spends much of her time outdoors, camping and kayaking with her family, including her two daughters and their basset hound.
Board of Directors
Executive Committee
President
Justin Westmoreland, Regional President Central Texas Area, Prosperity Bank
Secretary
Susan Bufkin, Educator & Community Volunteer
Board Members
Bryan Beckworth, Owner, Beckworth Design Build
Mickey Jamail, Manager, Bull Creek Management LLC
Endowment Board
The Friends of the Colorado River Endowment is a separate 501(c)(3) corporation that manages a small fund to support the Colorado River Alliance’s programs.
Trustee
Meg Voelter
”Your contributions added to our week-long UT GeoForce curriculum immensely—the students really got a lot out of your presentations! Four of our students were selected to present their poster on Lake Austin work at the annual American Geophysical Union meeting in December in San Francisco—this is the largest Earth sciences meeting in the world—so VERY exciting for them and for us!
Marcy DavisEngineering Scientist, Institute for Geophysics | The University of Texas at Austin
