Our Work
We help clients:
INSPIRE SUPPORT | GET IN FRONT OF CRISIS | HEAD OFF OPPOSITION
“Laura helped us focus our message at a critical time for the District. We needed to achieve certain objectives and her communications insight enabled us to do that.”
Texas Water Development Board
Recognizing that Texas leads the nation in human and financial losses from floods, the Texas Legislature in 2017 authorized funding to develop a State Flood Assessment.
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PRAIRIELANDS GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT
The Prairielands Groundwater Conservation District wanted to strengthen its educational outreach by raising awareness of the District and its new online well-registration tool among a wider audience.
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ARRA/TWDB
When the Texas Water Development Board received $326 million of federal stimulus funds, the agency knew it would come under intense scrutiny from the public, government and media over distribution of the money.
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AQUA WATER SUPPLY CORPORATION
Aqua Water Supply Corporation faced mounting pressures at the end of 2009. Externally, competition was intensifying for groundwater supplies. Internally, operational and financial controls were fraying.
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PANHANDLE GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT
In 2001, powerful water marketer T. Boone Pickens and his Mesa Water company asked the Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District for permits to pump water from the Ogallala Aquifer – with the intent of selling it to large cities in Texas.
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RIVER SYSTEM INSTITUTE
As competition for groundwater intensifies over the next 50 years, supplies are expected to drop by about 1/3 as the population doubles. Unfortunately, the local government entities charged with protecting groundwater — groundwater conservation districts – often lack the funds to educate the public about their roles and responsibilities.
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CITY OF FAIR OAKS RANCH
The City of Fair Oaks Ranch identified more than 8 miles of roads in need of repair and nearly 4 miles of water lines in need of extension to revitalize public infrastructure during 2015-17. A roadway study had been done to determine which streets should be completed first, based on condition and value to the community.
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Source Water Assessment and Protection
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality wanted to increase participation in its Source Water Assessment and Protection program among public water systems.
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NORTH PLAINS GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT
In 2009 water marketer T. Boone Pickens challenged the North Plains Groundwater Conservation District’s goal for the amount of stored groundwater that must remain in 50 years, known as Desired Future Conditions.
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COW CREEK GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT
The Cow Creek GCD needed a more consistent funding method and so it proposed an ad valorem tax to voters. Such a tax proposal had failed twice before.
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LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY
The LCRA struggled for years to come up with a clear and simple brochure that would explain its water activities to a wide range of audiences.
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POST OAK SAVANNAH GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT
In 2012, the Post Oak Savannah Groundwater Conservation District faced growing criticism about its management of groundwater in Milam and Burleson counties. Fueling the criticism was intensifying competition for groundwater between those wanting to sell their groundwater and others wanting to save it for future use.
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2009 BRONZE QUILL AWARD
International Association of Business Communicators’ Bronze Quill/Award of Merit for the Texas Water Conservation Association’s Confluence newsletter
2008 TPRA BEST OF TEXAS SILVER
Texas Public Relations Association 1st Place Award for Texas Water Conservation Association’s Confluence newsletter
2007 TPRA BEST OF TEXAS SILVER
Texas Public Relations Association 1st Place Award for Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District’s brochure
2007 TPRA BEST OF TEXAS BRONZE
Texas Public Relations Association 2nd Place Award for Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District’s news release
PULITZER PRIZE NOMINATION – LAURA RAUN
ACE AWARD NOMINATION – LAURA RAUN
“Laura Raun Public Relations helped us spread the word about the importance of a well-funded groundwater conservation district, an effort that played a major role in getting voter approval for our tax proposal. The firm stepped in at short notice and quickly created a brochure that informed our constituents about the district’s roles and benefits. We believe that Laura Raun Public Relations was instrumental in our successful move to a sounder financing structure.”
“Laura has helped LCRA visibly increase awareness and support of its joint water project with the San Antonio Water System through strategic advice and communications materials. Her work in stakeholder relations and public outreach has been critical to the LCRA-SAWS Water Project. Laura’s insight and expertise have strengthened our credibility with target audiences.”
“Laura Raun Public Relations has increased the professionalism of the TWCA and TGWA newsletters. Laura quickly took over publishing of the newsletters at short notice and kept us on schedule while improving the product. She introduced new features and promoted timely articles, increasing the usefulness to TWCA and TGWA members. Her work has strengthened the associations’ communications with members.”
STAKEHOLDER INPUT CASE STUDIES
GULF COAST WATER AUTHORITY
The Gulf Coast Water Authority wanted to update its Drought Contingency Plan to better assess drought severity, plan for groundwater usage, lower water loss and incorporate standard planning elements. A previous effort to update the Plan faltered over penalty provisions. The challenge was to ensure support of the updating process from Water Authority customers so the resulting Plan would be ratified by the Authority’s Board of Directors. Read More >
TEXAS INSTREAM FLOW
Three state agencies wanted a systematic public outreach and stakeholder input process for the Texas Instream Flow Program.
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LCRA-SAWS WATER PROJECT
The LCRA-SAWS Water Project needed to win public support for a $2.8 billion water-sharing proposal that would be among the largest water initiatives in the U.S. and involve at least six years of feasibility studies.
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SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS REGIONAL WATER PLANNING GROUP (REGION L)
In 2006, the South Central Texas Regional Water Planning Group (Region L) failed to approve its regional water plan for inclusion in the state water plan – the first time such an impasse had occurred.
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REGION K
The Lower Colorado Regional Water Planning Group (Region K) realized early in the 2016 planning process that it needed more information about water providers’ water conservation and drought contingency efforts to meet requirements of the 2016 Regional Water Plan.
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WATER CONSERVATION CASE STUDIES
HAYS TRINITY GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT
The Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District needed its enabling legislation to be amended so it could regulate groundwater wells in a manner consistent with other groundwater districts across the state.
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TEXAS WATER CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION
The Texas Water Conservation Association – the state’s leading organization devoted to conserving, developing, and using water – publishes a quarterly newsletter, Confluence.
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FACILITATION CASE STUDIES
URS CORPORATION
Residents in west central Texas are increasingly concerned about adequate water supplies from their primary sources of water – the Edwards-Trinity (Plateau) and Pecos Valley aquifers.
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BARTON SPRINGS / EDWARDS AQUIFER GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT
The Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Groundwater Conservation District realized it was moving into uncharted territory when drought conditions already were critical at the beginning of the summer – the hottest and driest time of year.
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AUSTIN WATER
Austin Water, a city utility, reviews its water rates every seven years to ensure fairness and equity among all customers. In the 2016-17 review, the Utility focused on the split between retail and wholesale customers in the wake of a legal challenge to its water rates filed by four wholesalers. The petition to the state regulator posed special challenges for the two stakeholder groups created as part of the Utility’s rate review process.
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CITY OF WIMBERLEY
The City of Wimberley had been exploring options for a wastewater treatment system for 20 years, but divided opinions in the community had stymied progress.
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CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS CASE STUDIES
COLORADO WATER ISSUES COMMITTEE
Rice farmers in the lower Colorado River basin, the heart of Texas’s rice industry, found do themselves fighting for their very survival after a rapid series of major setbacks.
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