diff --git a/packages/ludic.render3d/water.ludic b/packages/ludic.render3d/water.ludic
index 8aa2a41b..a078ab2b 100644
--- a/packages/ludic.render3d/water.ludic
+++ b/packages/ludic.render3d/water.ludic
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ function water_reflection_pass(render3d_st: mut Render3dState) -> void {
     # this reflection is composited into is smaller than the drawable, and a reflection
     # rendered at the window's size would be paying for pixels the water never samples
     render3d_st.water_refl = target_new(render3d_st, render3d_st.post_w / render3d_st.water_refl_div, render3d_st.post_h / render3d_st.water_refl_div, GL_RGBA16F, GL_RGBA, GL_HALF_FLOAT, true, GL_LINEAR)
+  }
+  # views of the saved matrices, made once: water_saved is the state's for good, and a target
+  # made again (a resize, a render scale) made two more a time
+  if render3d_st.water_saved_vp == null {
     render3d_st.water_saved_vp = view(render3d_st.water_saved, 16, 16)
     render3d_st.water_saved_ivp = view(render3d_st.water_saved, 32, 16)
   }