Programs
- Arroyo Colorado
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The Arroyo Colorado flows through Hidalgo, Cameron and Willacy counties in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Water flow in the Arroyo Colorado is sustained by wastewater discharges, agricultural runoff irrigation return flows, urban runoff, and base flows from shallow groundwater. Elevated levels of fecal coliform bacteria and low dissolved oxygen have severely impacted recreational use of the lower Arroyo Colorado for fishing and swimming. In 2002 the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality determined in a Total Maximum Daily Load study that a 90 percent reduction of nutrients and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) was needed to achieve healthy waters.
- Bacteria Fate and Transport
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The Fate and Transport of E. coli in Rural Texas Landscapes and Streams project addresses several issues related to bacteria Total Maximum Daily Load (TDML) development and implementation addressed in a recent state task force report. These issues include identifying, characterizing and monitoring the fate and transport of E. coli in impaired watersheds and streams. The results from this project will help in developing scientifically sound TMDLs.
- Big Cypress Creek Modeling and BST
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Big Cypress Creek and its tributaries are located in the Cypress Creek Basin in northeast Texas. Big Cypress Creek flows in an east-southeast direction into Lake Cypress Springs, next into Lake Bob Sandlin, then to Lake O’ the Pines and finally to Caddo Lake before entering Louisiana. Big Cypress Creek as well as the tributaries Tankersley and Hart creeks between Lake Bob Sandlin and Lake O’ the Pines are on the Texas 303(d) List for having bacteria levels that exceed water quality standards.
- Buck Creek Water Quality
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Buck Creek is a small creek in the Texas Panhandle in the Red River Basin. Data obtained from limited water quality sampling by the Red River Authority in the past indicated that Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria levels sometimes exceeded levels allowed by the Texas Surface Water Standards. Too many E. coli or fecal coliforms may indicate the presence of pathogens that can cause disease and would keep the creek from being used safely for recreation.
- Caddo Lake
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Caddo Lake Institute Texas, Inc. has been working with multiple agencies, universities, researchers and special interest groups to better understand Caddo Lake and its watershed. Caddo Lake, on the border of Texas and Louisiana, was designated as a wetland of international importance by the Ramsar Convention in 1993. This designation acknowledged the vital role that Caddo Lake plays in providing a habitat for birds, fish, native botanical species and numerous other species dependent upon its ecosystem.
- Consortium for Irrigation Research and Education
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The Consortium for Irrigation Research and Education (CIRE) is an effort to provide better coordination of irrigation research and Extension activities throughout Texas. It will enhance internal communication and sharing of information about ongoing irrigation projects and will create opportunities for collaboration and development of joint projects. These efforts will contribute to optimizing programs to improve irrigation management and provide for broad-based water use education and irrigation training throughout the state.
- Copano Bay Water Quality Education
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According to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), Copano Bay on the Texas Gulf Coast is not suitable for harvesting oysters because of elevated bacteria concentrations from various sources. In addition, recreation in the tidal segments of the Mission and Aransas rivers is impaired by the bacteria, Enterococcus. TCEQ has implemented Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) to determine the sources of these bacteria and the measures necessary to reduce the bacteria levels in the rivers and bay.
- Efficient Nitrogen Fertilization
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Traditional soil nitrogen tests do not account for all the nitrogen found in the soil that is available to plants, resulting in the potential for over application of nitrogen fertilizer by agricultural producers. This over application increases nitrogen transport to Texas rivers and lakes, which can accelerate eutrophication and substantially increase water treatment costs. In addition, the application of excessive nitrogen fertilizer increases producers’ costs and reduces their profitability.
- Environmental Infrastructures
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The Bosque River watershed has a drainage area of more than 1,600 square miles, extending northwest from the city of Waco in McLennan County to parts of Bosque, Somervell, Coryell, Hamilton and Erath counties. The Bosque River serves as the primary drinking water supply for more than 200,000 people.
- Fort Hood Range Revegetation
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Located on the northern edge of the Texas Hill Country, Fort Hood Military Reservation is characterized by rolling hills, shallow soils, woodlands, prairies and rocky streams. Yet, 60 years of training activities with ground-combat vehicles have disturbed its training land ecosystems, creating significant soil erosion and water quality issues.
- Harris County Water Quality Study
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In January 2008, Texas AgriLife Research and Harris County Watershed Protection Group entered into a Memorandum of Agreement for services related to water quality issues in Harris County bayous and wetlands.
- Improving Water Quality of Grazing Lands
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Grazing lands are the dominant land use throughout most of Texas. Until recently, little attention was paid in Texas to the effect that livestock grazing on these lands may have on water quality. Bacteria source tracking conducted as a part of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s Total Maximum Daily Load program has recently identified cattle as significant contributors of excessive bacteria in several impaired water bodies. Texas has now initiated a major effort to improve the management of grazing lands to reduce nonpoint source pollution.
- Irrigation Training Program
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Irrigation of agricultural crops in Texas accounts for more water usage than all other uses of water combined--60 percent in 2000. The Texas Water Development Board's Water for Texas state water plan predicts that the demand for irrigation water will decline to approximately 40 percent by 2060. Conservation-based water management practices by farmers are essential to meet that decline, and education and training are critical components of these water conservation practices.
- Lake Granbury Water Quality
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Lake Granbury is a critical water supply in North Texas, providing water for more than 250,000 people in more than 15 cities. It is also the source of cooling water for a natural gas-fired steam electric power plant and the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant. In addition to municipal and industrial uses, the lake is a recreation haven for local water enthusiasts.
- Little Brazos River Bacteria Assessment
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Elevated levels of fecal bacteria in Texas water bodies currently cause more than 50 percent of all water quality impairments in the state. These bacteria come from all warm-blooded animals and are found in all Texas water bodies regardless of their location or type. Because of these widespread bacteria impairments, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board established a joint task force to outline a methodology for effectively developing bacteria TMDLs to address these impairments and are now employing this process in several locations statewide.
- Mills Scholars Program
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The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) annually administers a competitive scholarship program to support graduate research at Texas A&M University and Texas A&M University-Galveston. This program is funded through the W.G. Mills Memorial Endowment. Since 2001 TWRI has funded $1,000-$1,500 scholarships for more than 112 students involved in water-related studies.
- North Central Texas Water Quality
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Water quality in North Central Texas reservoirs is a growing concern. Six of the major reservoirs in the Trinity River Basin managed by Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) now serve 1.6 million people across 11 counties and are expected to serve 2.66 million by 2050. The Texas Water Resources Institute and Texas A&M AgriLife are collaborating with TRWD to study water quality protection and potential improvements in these five reservoirs with regard to the major problems of sediment and nutrient loading. Sediment loading affects reservoir capacity and water clarity; nutrient loading results in algae growth that impacts water treatment and recreational use.
- Ogallala Aquifer
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The Ogallala Aquifer in western Kansas and the Texas High Plains is declining at an unacceptable rate. Aquifer depletion rates of one- to three-feet per year are commonplace in that region, with very small amounts of recharge occurring. Water availability, cost, and policy, together with technology development and adoption rates, will reshape the rural landscape in coming decades.
- On-Farm Manure to Energy Conversion System
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The rapid growth of highly concentrated animal feeding operations (AFOs) has resulted in large amounts of manure produced within relatively small geographical areas. Organic matter and nutrients such as phosphorus in animal manure benefit soil structure and increase plant cover, thus reducing the potential for erosion and surface runoff. However, repeated and excessive application of manure to land has caused soil phosphorus levels to exceed the amounts needed for crop growth. As a result, phosphorous from land-applied effluent and manure is a major water quality concern as a nonpoint source pollutant in many U.S. and Texas watersheds.
- Pecos River Watershed Protection
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The Pecos River, which winds more than 800 miles through semi-arid and arid landscapes of eastern New Mexico and West Texas, is crucial to many communities, mainly for irrigation, recreational and environmental use and recharging underlying aquifers. The river is the largest U.S. tributary flowing into the Rio Grande, accounting for 11 percent of stream inflow into the Amistad Reservoir.
- Precision Irrigators Network
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Proper water conservation and management of irrigation water is increasingly important for growers in regions of irrigated agriculture in Texas. Economics and availability of water cause most producers to practice efficient irrigation, but due to new pumping and use limitations, growers are forced to evaluate their systems’ efficiency and adopt new practices to conserve irrigation water use.
- Rio Grande Basin Initiative
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The Rio Grande Basin is a highly productive agricultural area, with irrigated agriculture claiming more than 85 percent of its water. Population growth and urban water demands in the basin are expected to double in the next 50 years. The Basin's agricultural crop industry has an economic impact of more than $1 billion annually. By investing in improvements in irrigation conveyance systems and efficient on-farm water use, both urban and agricultural interests can benefit from increased water availability and resulting economic enhancements.
- USGS Graduate Research Program
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The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) administers an annual competitive request for proposals to support graduate student research at universities throughout Texas. This program is funded through the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), with resources directed to the TWRI through the National Institutes for Water Research. Since 2001 TWRI has awarded more than 80 $5,000 grants.
- Water Resources Training Courses
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Helping water professionals learn how to manage water resources is the goal of new training programs coordinated by the Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI). TWRI is working with Texas A&M University's Spatial Sciences Laboratory (SSL), Zachry Department of Civil Engineering, and the Texas AgriLife Blackland Research and Extension Center at Temple to market and administer short courses on water-related geographic information systems, remote sensing technology, and computer simulation models.
- Watershed Planning Short Course
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Comprehensive watershed protection plans that outline ways to preserve or restore watersheds are the accepted approach to protecting Texas surface waters. Using a watershed approach to restore impaired water bodies addresses the problems in a holistic manner and stakeholders in the watershed are actively involved in developing the management strategies and plans.
Completed Programs
- Bacteria TMDL
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In September 2006, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB) charged a seven-person Bacteria Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Task Force with examining approaches that other states use to develop and implement bacteria TMDLs, recommending cost-effective and time-efficient methods for developing TMDLs, recommending effective approaches for developing TMDL Implementation Plans (I-Plans), evaluating a variety of models and bacteria source tracking (BST) methods available for developing TMDLs and I-Plans, and recommending under what conditions certain methods are more appropriate, and developing a roadmap for further scientific research needed to reduce uncertainty about how bacteria behave under different water conditions in Texas.
- Dairy Compost Utilization
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Central Texas' dairy industry comprises 165 dairies and more than 100,000 cows. This abundance of dairy operations creates potentially hazardous wastewater runoff that can pollute the area's waters. Increased concentrations of ammonia, nitrogen, phosphorus, and fecal bacteria are being found in parts of the North Bosque River, Upper North Bosque River, and the Leon River. A positive correlation appears to exist between waste concentrations from dairies and the decline of water quality in the surrounding area.
- New Technologies For Animal Waste Pollution Control
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Large concentrations of dairies in Central Texas have led to concerns about high levels of phosphorus runoff into the North Bosque and Leon river basins. In addition, several other Texas regions are dealing with problems caused by excess concentrations of nutrients in rivers and lakes. Technologies for reducing nutrient levels in wastes from concentrated animal feeding operations and other sources are being identified, evaluated and field-tested. Once assessments are completed, results will be communicated to dairy managers and other stakeholders and will provide critical information about costs and effectiveness of the demonstrated technologies.
- Seymour Aquifer Water Quality
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The Seymour Aquifer is a shallow aquifer in Northwest Central Texas and the only major source of groundwater in Haskell, Jones and Knox counties. The aquifer underlies 300,000 plus acres and provides drinking and domestic water for many rural families. In addition, over 3,000 wells furnish water for irrigation and livestock use. This project is working to provide water quality education and technical assistance to irrigators for best management practices (BMPs) implementation.
