2019

The Texas Water Journal has published the final article in the Volume 10, Number 1, 2019 issue titled “Interjecting Economics into the Surface Water Dialogue” by Maria Vaca, Stefni Richards, Alexa Davis, Kylie Jackson, Nanag Timur, Fahad Manzoor, Said Azam, Robert Feltman and James Griffin.

TCEQ has added an interactive map viewer showing watershed plans and projects in Texas to reduce nonpoint source water pollution.

During 2019, Texas Water Resources Institute’s communications team covered everything from challenges of water utilities to profiles of water resources professionals across Texas.

Do you own a septic system?

The Texas Water Resources Institute has published a new educational material titled Septic System Maintenance & Inspection Pocket Guide to help homeowners with problem solving and best management practices for their septic systems.

When making New Year’s resolutions for 2020, add water conservation to your goals! What’s your water footprint?, an article in our Fall 2009 txH₂O, lists the amount of water used for many common activities.

A free Drip Irrigation Workshop will be held from 10 a.m.-noon Jan. 11 in the vegetable garden of the Freedom Home Baptist Church, 3405 Oak Springs Drive in Austin.

Dr. Genhua Niu is always on the lookout for the next agricultural innovation. As a professor of urban agriculture at the Texas A&M AgriLife Center at Dallas, she studies how growing environments can be adjusted to enhance plant growth and quality in urban settings, such as by manipulating the light quality, light intensity or nutrient solution.

Across Texas, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Texas A&M AgriLife Research address local needs related to everything from mitigating drought impacts to enhancing food security to improving human health outcomes through education, outreach and research activities. To help support AgriLife’s mission, Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) has been tasked with leading the development of future water resources programs and activities in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, with the Texas A&M AgriLife Center at Dallas serving as the coordination hub for the region.

The Texas A&M AgriLife Center at Dallas will host the first Controlled Environment Urban Agriculture Conference Dec. 5, which will provide information on a wide range of topics as well as access to Texas A&M AgriLife and industry experts.

Did you know that Texas A&M AgriLife opened the first WaterSense-labeled house in the Dallas-Fort Worth region? We spotlighted the home in our Fall 2013 issue of txH₂O and you will find it on page 12 in the issue’s pdf.

The Texas Water Resources Institute, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Angelina and Neches River Authority will host a meeting Nov. 22 in Lufkin for anyone interested in water quality impairments in Jack, Cedar, Hurricane and Biloxi creeks, tributaries of the Neches River below Lake Palestine.

Texas A&M AgriLife Research, on behalf of the Texas Water Resources Institute, recently signed a specific agreement with Instituto Mexicano de Tecnologia del Agua to work on various topics related to groundwater along the Texas-Mexico border.

The Texas Water Resources Institute in collaboration with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will host two meetings Nov. 21 in Woodville and Jasper for anyone interested in joining a partnership to improve and protect water quality in the Sandy and Wolf creeks.

The Texas Water Journal published an article in the Volume 10, Number 1, 2019 issue titled “Transboundary Water Sharing: Risk Perceptions Held by Texas Border Decision Makers” by Lindsay Sansom.

The Texas Water Resources Institute is hosting free Texas Riparian and Stream Ecosystem Education Program workshops Nov. 6 in Bishop and Nov. 13 in Temple for area residents interested in land and water stewardship.

This month in our Program Spotlight, we feature the Texas Well Owner Network.

The Texas Water Resources Institute’s Urban Riparian and Stream Restoration Program will host Urban Stream Processes and Restoration trainings Nov. 14 in Waco and Nov. 19 in Corpus Christi for professionals interested in conducting stream restoration projects.

With pre-proposal deadlines approaching on Oct. 28 for Texas Water Resources Institute’s graduate scholarship programs, this txH₂O highlight is focused on an article about the success of previous scholarship recipients.

The Texas Water Resources Institute’s Urban Riparian and Stream Restoration Program will host an Urban Stream Processes and Restoration Training from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 29 in New Braunfels for professionals interested in conducting stream restoration projects around the Interstate 35 corridor.

If you follow Texas Water Resources Institute on social media (@TxWRI), you may have noticed our monthly program spotlights, but in case you missed it, for the month of September the focus was on our Urban Riparian & Stream Restoration Program.

The Texas Well Owner Network will present water well screenings in October in six Texas counties to give area residents the opportunity to have their well water tested.

KTRE Channel 9 recently covered efforts by Texas Water Resources Institute, Stephen F. Austin State University's Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture and Angelina and Neches River Authority in East Texas to improve water quality.

The Texas Well Owner Network has scheduled several free Well Educated trainings for November for private water well owners who depend on household wells for their water needs.

Private water well owners whose wells flooded from the recent rains from Tropical Depression Imelda should assume that their well water is con­taminated until tested. 

Nearly a half-million dollars in grant funding has been earmarked for working with agriculture interests along the Arroyo Colorado to reduce pollution in the key Valley waterway.

The FY2020-21 Water Seed Grant Initiative, “Research, Engineering and Extension: Creation and Deployment of Water-Use Efficient Technology Platforms,” is seeking proposals that focus on water technologies and management approaches.

The Texas Water Resources Institute announces its call for pre-proposals for students conducting water resources research. TWRI has funds available for graduate students at Texas universities through two programs, the TWRI Mills Scholarship Program (available to students at Texas A&M University College Station, Galveston and Qatar only) and the U.S. Geological Survey Graduate Research Program (available to students at all Texas universities).

Rivers and streams are the veins that carry surface water. Have you given much thought to their health?

As a Texas A&M University associate professor and extension specialist at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Dallas, Fouad Jaber applies concepts of ecological engineering to managing urban water using natural elements to try to solve problems related to stormwater pollution.

The Urban Riparian and Stream Restoration Program, coordinated by the Texas Water Resources Institute, in collaboration with Texas A&M AgriLife Research in Dallas, is bringing awareness, education and the value of stream restoration to urban areas around Texas.

This month’s txH₂O highlight is from the Fall 2017 issue of the magazine and focuses on the effectiveness of low impact development (LID) practices in reducing negative environmental impacts of urban growth.

The Texas Water Resources Institute is hosting free Texas Riparian and Stream Ecosystem Education Program workshops Oct. 15 in Lockhart and Oct. 23 in Junction for area residents interested in land and water stewardship.

The Texas Water Resources Institute along with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas Water Development Board co-hosted an education program July 15 for Rio Grande Valley irrigation district managers and board members.

Texas A&M University-Kingsville's Frank H. Dotterweich College of Engineering has received a five-year, $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to establish a Center for Research Excellence in Science and Technology for Sustainable Water Use.

The Texas Water Journal published a commentary in the Volume 10, Number 1, 2019 issue titled “86th Texas State Legislature: Summaries of Water-related Legislative Action” by Ken Kramer, Christopher Mullins, Dean Robbins, Stacey Allison Steinbach, Leah Martinsson, Trent Hightower, and Perry L. Fowler.

The Urban Riparian and Stream Restoration Program of the Texas Water Resources Institute will host an Urban Stream Processes and Restoration training from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 19 in McKinney for professionals interested in conducting stream restoration projects in and around the Dallas area.

Texas Water Resources Institute staff report positive results in one East Texas watershed and substantial progress in another while working with stakeholders and a team of university researchers and agency staff to improve water quality in the region’s many watersheds.

Texas Water Resources Institute research assistant Anna Gitter bridges the gaps between environmental science and public health, scientists and nonscientists, and fieldwork and computer work.

More than 150 participants from 13 states and South Africa attended the recent Southern Region Water Conference, “Improving Adoption of Sustainable Water Management Practices,” hosted by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in College Station.

Updated editions and new manuals for the Water Rights Analysis Package, a computer modeling system that simulates river and reservoir systems and assesses water availability under specified alternative sets of conditions, were recently added to the Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) website.

The Texas Water Resources Institute has awarded U.S. Geological Survey graduate research grants to two students for June 2019 – June 2020.

August is Water Quality Month, and we are sharing information from the Water Security issue of txH2O, How does water quality monitoring work?, an explainer on the process of watershed restoration.

For Water Quality Month, start adopting these practices to contribute to improved water quality in your community.

With populations increasing, there is an increased likelihood of the need for intensive water reuse, according to experts. August’s txH2O highlight is Safe water = Secure water, an article about Texas A&M University researchers studying ways to remove more chemicals from water during the treatment process.

We recently published the Summer 2019 issue of our magazine, txH2O, highlighting water utilities challenges and potential solutions.

The Texas Water Journal published an article in the Volume 10, Number 1, 2019 issue titled “Economically Recoverable Water in Texas: An Underappreciated Water Management Strategy?” by Dr. Timothy T. Loftus.

Underneath the border of the United States and Mexico lie transboundary aquifers. Little is known about most of these aquifers or how the two countries can mutually manage these waters.

Laura Rodriguez Lozada, a graduate student at Texas A&M University and graduate research assistant at Texas Water Resources Institute, is a member of the Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program team conducting binational scientific research on transboundary aquifers.

Read through a photo essay from the Agricultural Best Management Practices for Watershed Planning Training at the USDA’s ARS Grassland Research Laboratory in Riesel, TX. 

The Arroyo Colorado Watershed Partnership, Texas Water Resources Institute and the city of San Benito have been working on projects designed to reuse treated wastewater to fill abandoned wastewater treatment ponds.

Did you know a whole crop can be irrigated using a cell phone app? July is Smart Irrigation Month and TWRI has many resources about modern irrigation practices for producers in our magazine, txH2O.

Texas Water Resources Institute’s Dr. Lucas Gregory and Dr. John Tracy recently gave presentations on TWRI research at the annual water resources conference held by the Universities Council on Water Resources and the National Institutes for Water Resources in Snowbird, Utah.

Rice producers in 12 counties in southeast Texas can submit applications until June 28 for the next funding cycle of the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program.

Almost every watershed coordinator in the state has now attended and benefited from the Texas Watershed Planning Program of the Texas Water Resources Institute.

The Texas Water Journal published an article in the Volume 10, Number 1, 2019 issue titled “A Tool for Rapid Assessment of Hydrological Connectivity Patterns in Texas Coastal Wetlands: Linkages between Tidal Creeks and Coastal Ponds” by Todd M. Swannack, Jeffrey R. Wozniak, William E. Grant and Stephen E. Davis III.

June 15 is Nature Photography Day. At TWRI, our Water Team members provide us with awesome nature photos while helping make every drop count!

A Texas Watershed Steward workshop is set for 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. July 17 in Weslaco. The workshop is part of efforts by the Texas Water Resources Institute to improve and protect water quality in the Arroyo Colorado.

The Separation Sciences Group at the Process Engineering Research & Development Center at Texas A&M University will host a hands-on, practical short course, Water Quality Management: Municipal, Industrial and Environmental Applications, July 14-16 in College Station.

In May’s issue of Texas+Water, Dr. Rosario Sanchez, TWRI senior research scientist, was interviewed by Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler.

Summer is here, and despite the recent increase in rainfall, water conservation is still important for the increasing population of Texas. txH₂O highlight No. 6 is an article about how homeowners and utilities can conserve water using new technologies.  

The Arroyo Colorado Partnership, Texas Water Resources Institute, Texas Stream Team and Los Fresnos Consolidated Independent School District are partnering to implement and monitor stormwater best management practices on a wetland adjacent to the Los Fresnos High School campus in the Lower Rio Grande Valley as part of the Falcon Pond Beautification Project.

The Texas A&M University School of Law recently published a report on legal mechanisms and tools for responding to the impacts of recent and future flooding events resulting from storm events and sea level rise.

A Texas Watershed Steward workshop on water quality related to the Neches River will be held from 1-5 p.m. May 21 in Jasper. The workshop will be held at the Jasper County Courthouse Annex, 271 E. Lamar St. It will be presented by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board in cooperation with the Texas Water Resources Institute.

The Texas Water Resources Institute, or TWRI, will host a meeting May 21 in Rogers for anyone interested in joining a partnership to improve and protect water quality in the Big Elm Creek watershed.

The Texas Water Resources Institute has published its latest annual report, focusing on accomplishments and project highlights from 2018.

The Texas Water Resources Institute has a new look to its website.

Problem-solving and water management go hand-in-hand for David Smith, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service program specialist at Texas A&M University in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering. He is also program coordinator for the award-winning Texas 4-H Water Ambassadors Program.

April showers have brought some May floods. This month’s txH₂O highlight includes a list of resources related to flooding and drought.

A Texas Watershed Steward workshop on water quality related to the La Nana Bayou, Angelina and Middle Neches Rivers will be held from 8 a.m.-noon May 22 in Lufkin.

The Texas Water Resources Institute is offering two Watershed Planning Program trainings for watershed coordinators and other water professionals involved in watershed-based planning in Texas.

A Brazos Valley water conservation program, BV WaterSmart, garnered two state awards recently for its water conserving efforts and educational activities toward reducing water waste.

The Texas Water Journal published an article in the Volume 10, Number 1, 2019 issue titled “Floating Solar: An Emerging Opportunity at the Energy-Water Nexus” by Carlos Gamarra and Jennifer J. Ronk.

The Texas Well Owner Network is hosting a water well screening May 8 in Junction to give area residents the opportunity to have their well water screened. The screening will be from 8:30–10 a.m. at the Kimble County Courthouse, second floor, 501 Main St.

Two innovative, constructed wetlands in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have the ability to divert over 180 million gallons of treated wastewater per day from the Trinity River and naturally filter it for reuse.

Internationally renowned experts Dr. Francesco Sindico of University of Stathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland and Ambassador (retired) Ram Aviram of BIT Consultancy recently spoke on the difficulties of managing and governing groundwater resources in transboundary aquifers.

Texas Water Development Board member Kathleen Jackson and Texas Water Resources Institute senior research scientist Dr. Rosario Sanchez spoke at the Texas A&M University Water Management and Hydrological Science program's Water Daze.

Jain Irrigation Systems Limited, the largest irrigation technology company in the world, is establishing a new university in India that will address the sustainable development of agriculture, water resources and renewable energy.

April’s txH₂O highlight is about the predictions of climate change impacts in Texas. The article, Texas is vulnerable to climate change, from the winter 2008 climate change issue, mentions future challenges resulting from increased populations, hotter temperatures and high greenhouse gas emissions.

The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) is hosting a meeting April 5 in Victoria to discuss water quality in the Garcitas and Arenosa Creek watersheds and another meeting April 10 in Palacios to discuss implementation of the Tres Palacios Watershed Protection Plan.

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will offer several Texas Well Owner Network well water screenings in April in the North Texas area.

The Texas Water Resources Institute’s Urban Riparian and Stream Restoration Program will host two workshops in April for professionals interested in conducting stream restoration projects.

The Texas Water Resources Institute will host a free Texas Riparian and Stream Ecosystem Education Program workshop April 16 in Kingsville for area residents interested in land and water stewardship in Kleberg County and a workshop May 1 in Baytown for area residents interested in land and water stewardship in the Double Bayou and Cedar Bayou watershed.

The Texas Water Resources Institute is hosting a meeting April 16 in Rogers for anyone interested in joining a partnership to improve and protect water quality in the Big Elm Creek watershed.

Dr. Ralph Wurbs, senior professor in the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University and former associate director of engineering for Texas Water Resources Institute, was selected as the first American Academy of Water Resources Engineers Outstanding Research and Innovation Award recipient.

From Lubbock to Athens, and now College Station, Dr. Rebecca Grubbs-Bowling, Texas A&M University assistant professor and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service turfgrass specialist in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, helps Texans better understand their turfgrass.

Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute director and modeler Dr. Lindell Ormsbee cautioned researchers to strive to develop useful but not too complex models at a recent seminar at the Texas Water Resources Institute in College Station.

This month’s txH₂O highlight was chosen with Groundwater Awareness Week (March 11-15) in mind. Underground and Under Scrutiny from the Summer 2014 groundwater issue of txH₂O examines the options for keeping the growing number of residents in Texas supplied with water.

The Water Management and Hydrological Science (WMHS) program at Texas A&M University is hosting Water Daze, a student poster competition and water lectures, March 27 on the Texas A&M campus.

A new Council of Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) paper, authored by a task force of university and government researchers, explores the long-term impact of aquifer depletion on U.S. agriculture, suggesting that increased competition for the use of water from aquifers may negatively affect future agricultural practices in drier regions of the United States.

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service is hosting the Southern Region Water Conference, “Improving Adoption of Sustainable Water Management Practices,” July 23-25 at the Texas A&M Hotel and Conference Center, 177 Joe Routt Blvd. in College Station.

More than 40 speakers, panelists and moderators will present current information, ideas and realities that face the Rio Grande and the states and countries that share its water at a two-day conference April 23-25 in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Grain sorghum production is highly susceptible to changes in climatic conditions, more so than to different irrigation regiments a producer might implement on the crop, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Research modeling study.

The Texas Water Journal published the first program review in the Volume 10, Number 1, 2019 issue titled “An Internet for Water: Connecting Texas Water Data” by Dr. Rudolph A. Rosen, Sam Marie Hermitte, Dr. Suzanne Pierce, Sarah Richards, Dr. Susan V. Roberts and includes an editor’s note by Dr. Robert E. Mace.

Playas are capable of providing up to 95 percent of an aquifer's recharge. The goal of the Texas Playa Conservation Initiative is to restore playas and increase awareness among the public of the important role playas play in their daily lives. Do you have a playa on your land?

The Texas Water Resources Institute, Texas A&M University School of Law and Texas A&M University Water Management and Hydrological Science program are hosting the 6th annual Water Seminar Series, March 25-27.

The deadline for the pre-proposals for the FY 2019 National Competitive Grant Program by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the National Institutes for Water Resources is due by Feb. 15.

An educational program called “Managing Under Drought: Water Management Information for Growers in the Middle Rio Grande” will be offered Feb. 19 in El Paso.

This month’s txH₂O highlight focuses on the successful restoration of a Texas wetland project. The saltwater marsh known as Magic Ridge Marsh had blocked tidal flow. Over the years, blocked channels and stagnant, salty waters caused the marsh to degrade.

The Texas Water Resources Institute is hosting a meeting Feb. 19 in Rogers for anyone interested in joining a partnership to improve and protect water quality in the Big Elm Creek watershed.

A Texas Well Owner Network training has been scheduled for 1-5 p.m. Feb. 22 at the Falls County Courthouse, 125 Bridge St., County Court Room 110 in Marlin.

The Texas Water Resources Institute will host a free Texas Riparian and Stream Ecosystem Education Program workshop from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. March 6 in Bandera for area residents interested in land and water stewardship in Bandera County.

Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Australia’s Department of Agriculture and Water Resources have entered into a cooperative research initiative to promote food, water security and international development.

The Texas Water Journal published the first papers for the Volume 10, Number 1, 2019 issue: an article titled “A Refined Hydrogeologic Framework Model for Gaines, Terry, and Yoakum Counties, Texas” by Jonathan V. Thomas, Andrew P. Teeple, Jason D. Payne, and Scott J. Ikard, and a commentary titled "Water Fuels our Future" by Charles Perry, Senator, Texas Senate; Chairman, Senate Committee on Water and Rural Affairs.

For the Texas Water Resources Institute, 2018 marked another successful year of addressing Texas water resource issues.

Conservation Matters is beginning a new series highlighting previous articles from TWRI's biannual magazine, txH₂O.

Dr. John Tracy, Texas Water Resources Institute’s director, was recently selected as a fellow for the Institute for Science, Technology and Public Policy.

The Texas Water Resources Institute announces the release of the draft Request for Pre-Proposals for the FY 2019 National Competitive Grant Program by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the National Institutes for Water Resources.

Results from Texas well water screenings in areas affected by flooding over the past few years show the importance of those screenings in helping ensure water quality and human health, said Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service personnel supporting the agency’s Texas Well Owner Network.

The Texas Water Resources Institute will host a Texas watershed coordinator roundtable Jan. 31 in Waco for water and natural resource professionals.

Almost a year and a half after Hurricane Harvey and its torrential rains wreaked havoc on parts of Texas, the infamous hurricane and its ramifications are still in the news. 

The Texas Water Journal published the final paper for its Volume 9, Number 1, 2018 titled “Surface water-groundwater interaction issues in Texas” by Dr. Steven C. Young, Dr. Robert E. Mace and Carlos Rubinstein.