Cover image for the Texas Water Journal, Volume 16, Number 1: Guadalupe River Nature Trail at Canyon Lake Dam. ©2023 Erich Ross Schlegel.
The Texas Water Journal has published a new policy review in Volume 16, titled “How Texas Could Lead the Nation in Addressing a Growing Water Workforce Problem,” by Walter Den and Davida S. Smyth.
In recent years, the water sector is experiencing an aging workforce with retirements outpacing the recruitment of new, job-readied workers. According to the authors, the resulting workforce shortage threatens the ability of the water industry to protect the nation’s public health and environment and the sustainability of critical water infrastructure investments.
While college degrees remain valuable for educational credentialing and career development, the authors suggest for the programs offered in colleges and universities to be made accessible to in-service professionals with the curricula reflecting the challenges faced by workers in today’s water systems.
Read the full article to learn more.
The journal — an online, peer-reviewed journal published by the nonprofit, the Texas Water Journal, in cooperation with the Texas Water Resources Institute, a unit of Texas A&M AgriLife Research that brings together expertise from across the Texas A&M University System, the Bureau of Economic Geology in the Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin, and the Water and the Environment Research Center in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering at Texas Tech University — publishes papers as they are completed.
It is devoted to the timely consideration of Texas water resources management, research and policy issues from a multidisciplinary perspective that integrates science, engineering, law, planning and other disciplines. It also provides updates on key state legislation and policy changes by Texas administrative agencies.
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