At the December Texas A&M University Board of Regents meeting, Dr. Bruce Lesikar was honored with the Texas A&M Regents Fellow Service Award for his work with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service. Lesikar is an AgriLife Extension agricultural engineering specialist, and professor and associate department head for the Texas A&M department of biological and agricultural engineering.

Texas Water Resources Institute sponsored a meeting titled “Funding Your Water Program: One-on-One with Water Agencies” on Jan. 11 as part of the annual Texas A&M AgriLife conference. With more than 60 participants, the interactive session involved research and Extension faculty from Texas AgriLife as well as other universities with interest and expertise in developing collaborative water research and Extension programs.

The Texas Rainwater Catchment Association (TRCA) 2010 State Conference will be March 12-13 at the Kerr County Hill Country Youth Exhibit Center in Kerrville. Registration for Friday and Saturday is $25 before March 1 and $35 thereafter. Registration for only Saturday’s exhibits and demonstrations is free.

A new Baylor University study funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that concentrations of phosphorus above 20 parts per billion (ppb) are linked to declines in water quality and aquatic plant and animal life. The study, which is the first to use the new Baylor Experimental Aquatic Research (BEAR) stream facility, demonstrates with certainty that an amount of phosphorus over a certain level does cause negative changes observed in many Texas streams, according to a Baylor news release.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is requesting public comment on the proposed "2010 Texas Surface Water Quality Standards" and the "Procedures to Implement the Standards."

The American Water Works Association (AWWA) will host a webcast titled New Approaches for Assessing Microbial Threats on Feb. 17. Dr. George D. DiGiovanni, professor and faculty fellow at the Texas AgriLife Research Center at El Paso, will be one the webcast’s presenters. The event will provide attendees with results from recent studies that contribute to the understanding of the occurrence and viability of microbial health threats in drinking water.

This month, in five cities throughout the nation, including Dallas, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held five listening sessions to provide information to the public about potential changes to stormwater regulations. According to the EPA, these potential regulations would help to reduce stormwater discharges that can harm water quality in nearby waterways.

Dr. Vijay Singh, professor in Texas A&M University’s Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and Zachry Department of Civil Engineering, will receive an Honorary Doctor of Engineering Degree and address the graduates at the spring convocation ceremony of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, during its convocation ceremony in June.

Feb. 2 is World Wetlands Day, observed annually on the date of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands, also known as the Ramsar Convention, in 1971. According to the convention’s Web site, 159 countries, including the U.S., have signed the intergovernmental treaty and 185 million hectares of wetlands (1885 sites) have been designated as Wetlands of International Importance. For related education materials, see here, and for more information on wetlands, visit http://www.ramsar.org.

On December 9, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Water launched a new Facebook page, Water Is Worth It, to provide a public forum to share information, encourage discussion, and raise awareness about the value of water and water-related resources.

The Development of a Coordinated Database for Water Resources and Flow Model in the Paso Del Norte Watershed (Phase III), Evaluation of Irrigation Efficiency Strategies for Far West Texas: Feasibility, Water Savings And Cost Considerations, and upcoming training course information.