April

Continuing to work together towards the conservation of land, water and wildlife, the Texas A&M Institute of Renewable Natural Resources and the Texas Water Resources Institute both experienced growth and had positive impacts in 2014.

IRNR and TWRI received a total of $9,968,278 in funding in 2014 and administered 57 research and Extension projects. Time spent by institute personnel on educating the public in water and natural resource issues through presentations, workshops and conferences totaled more than 22,000 hours.

The Texas Water Resources Institute and Texas A&M Institute of Renewable Natural Resources (IRNR) have partnered with the Association of Texas Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Texas Wildlife Association, Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board and 13 other organizations to highlight the important connection between voluntary land stewardship and sustaining water availability as part of Soil and Water Stewardship Week, April 27-May 4. This year’s theme for the statewide campaign is “Land Stewardship: Providing Water for Texans.”

The Texas Water Resources Institute has awarded U.S. Geological Survey graduate research grants to two students for March 2015–February 2016.

Despite the critical need to treat and reuse wastewater, many water consumers are unaware of the process, according to Dr. Anish Jantrania of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. Transforming complex wastewater science into easily applied information is his mission.

A spatial model provides a cost-effective way to identify priority areas for implementing voluntary best management practices in an impaired South Texas watershed, according to results from a Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) study recently published in the Texas Water Journal.

Even in cities, amidst the tall buildings, fast cars and busy people, there are still natural resources that need protection — particularly urban riparian areas, according to Nikki Dictson, Texas Water Resources Institute Extension program specialist. These vegetative buffers found along rivers and streams are complex ecosystems that include the land, plants, animals and network of streams within them.

Water conservation and the management and science of groundwater dominated the discussions at a recent water symposium at Texas State University.

The North Texas Municipal Water District has won the Water Conservation Advisory Council Blue Legacy Municipal Award for the Water My Yard program. According to the advisory council’s announcement, the “award program recognizes outstanding water conservation efforts and successes of Texans.”