Sounds like the water is getting through the seams. Goretex is just a membrane. The water will soak through the cordura before it gets to the membrane, at which point it *should* stop. Sounds like yours are defective, or the sewing wasn't that good and left holes too big to keep out the water at the seams. One thing to try is some silicone boot spray. You can find it at walmart in the camping section. I use it on my hikers and it sheds the water off the cordura before it can soak in. The boots have the goretex membrane as well, but I don't like to rely on just that. Granted, I'm far more likely to misplace a step and put water over the top.