Archive for 2006
- Student researches endocrine disrupting compounds
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By Courtney Swyden
Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDC) that remain in the water after wastewater treatment are a concern and were researched by a Southern Methodist University graduate student.
EDCs are chemicals that, in small doses, can interfere with normal hormone production, and can affect the endocrine system in humans and wildlife. SMU environmental engineering graduate student Adrian [...] - Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy measures soil clay content
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By Kathy Wythe
With an increased emphasis on precision agriculture and watershed planning, scientists need higher resolution maps of soil properties for improved modeling results and management decisions. One way to obtain these higher-resolution maps is to develop sensors that can rapidly and reliably quantify soil properties in-situ (in the field).
Dr. Cristine Morgan, assistant professor, Texas [...] - Student researches the removal of atrazine
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By Courtney Swyden
Texas A&M University soil science graduate student, Timothy Goebel and his advising professors, Drs. Kevin McInnes and Scott Senseman, are researching the removal of the herbicide atrazine from runoff water in agricultural fields.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, an estimated 76.4 million pounds of atrazine are applied to agricultural fields annually. Atrazine [...] - Assessment of Buck Creek for bacterial impairment continuing
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By Kathy Wythe
After 20 months of sampling at 13 sites on Buck Creek in the Texas Panhandle, research appears to confirm that certain segments of the creek may have elevated levels of bacteria, causing sporadic seasonal impairment, according to researchers at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (TAES) in Vernon.
This sampling and evaluation is part of [...] - Student researches real-time runoff estimation for Texas
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By Courtney Swyden
In an effort to predict surface runoff and flooding, a Texas A&M University graduate student and her advising professor are using the SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model to simulate runoff on an hourly basis in Texas’ watersheds.
“With the advent of remote sensing technology, radars can not only be used for wireless [...] - Membrane/separations technology “Hands-On” course scheduled
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Texas A&M’s Separation Sciences Group at the Food Protein Research and Development Center is sponsoring the 16th annual Membrane & Separations Technology short course, April 2-6 in College Station.
“Fundamentals, New Developments, Applications and Pilot Plant Demonstrations” is designed for food, water, chemical, petroleum and environmental industries.
Industry experts and researchers from across the United States and [...] - New Faculty Expand Water Resources Expertise
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Agricultural Economics and Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences
W. Douglass Shaw, professor, joined the Departments of Agricultural Economics and Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences in 2004.
Dr. Shaw received his doctorate in economics from the University of Colorado in December 1985.
His expertise is the area of valuation of water quality and quantity changes, with an emphasis on [...] - What’s the Plan?
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Groups tackling water quality problems on Lake Granbury
The lake glistens, fish jump, and people swim. But not if the water quality of Lake Granbury—a popular tourist attraction and critical water supply to some 250,000 people in 15 cities—continues to decline.
In recent years, toxic blooms of golden algae have caused fish kills, and Escherichia coli bacteria [...] - Investing in the Future
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TWRI awards Mills Scholarships to graduate students
The Texas Water Resources Institute recently awarded Mills Scholarships to 11 Texas A&M University graduate students and four Texas A&M University–Galveston graduate students for the 2005-06 academic year to pursue water-related research.
TWRI’s Mills Scholars Program, an endowed fund that supports research in water conservation and management, provided the $1,500 [...] - West Texas Rain
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Rainwater harvesting demonstration sites save water and money
Rainwater, one of the purest sources of water available, is scarce in West Texas. Residents in this arid land must use all available methods of saving water. Rainwater harvesting, a common water resource used in the early 1900s, is becoming one such option.
The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) [...] - Got Manure?
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Technologies reducing phosphorus in dairy wastes
By the end of 2007, dairy farmers in Central Texas may have several new technologies to help them reduce phosphorus in dairy manure wastewater. Too much phosphorus runoff from the over 165 dairies in the area contributes to poor water quality in the North Bosque River, Leon River and Lake [...] - Putting Dollars to Work
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319(h) projects help control nonpoint source pollution in Texas
Protection of our water resources is one of the most significant environmental challenges of the new millennium. Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution (pollution from rain or snowmelt runoff containing natural and man-made pollutants) from urban and agricultural activities represents a major pollution source.
Congress enacted Section 319(h) of the [...] - Preparing for the Future
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University establishes water management degree program
Texas A&M University launched an interdisciplinary water management degree program during the fall 2005 semester with 12 students seeking either master’s or doctorate degrees in water management and hydrologic sciences.
The degree program, the first in Texas, includes 42 faculty members in 12 departments from four different colleges, said Ron Kaiser, [...] - Computerized Waters
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Model changes management of Texas surface waters
In an office on the second floor of a Texas A&M University building, on a desktop computer operating with the popular Microsoft Windows, Dr. Ralph Wurbs has designed a computer modeling system that has changed the way Texas manages its rivers, streams and reservoirs.
The modeling system called Water Rights [...] - Panhandle AgriPartners
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Program helps farmers manage farms, water more efficiently
After 33 years in agribusiness, Dennis Beilue found he wasn’t ready to hang up his agricultural hat when he retired in 2000. Three years later he was back in the business as a Texas Cooperative Extension farm demonstration assistant with the Panhandle AgriPartners Program.
AgriPartners is a collaborative program [...]
