Timely information and links from the Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) are now available on Twitter. Visit twitter.com/TxWRI to stay current on water research and outreach news in Texas, including training course announcements, research outcomes, meeting announcements and news articles.

TWRI invites you to join the conversation. Twitter is a great place to ask TWRI questions about funding opportunities, research and outreach projects, and Texas water facts.

Turnout for the first public meeting regarding the development of a watershed protection plan for Attoyac Bayou was high, according to Lucas Gregory, Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) project manager for the Attoyac Bayou restoration effort. The meeting was held July 15 in Nacogdoches and hosted by the Texas AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board.

The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) recently funded Mills Scholarships to 16 Texas A&M University graduate students for the 2010-11 academic year. The students will use the $1,500 scholarships to pursue water-related research.

The Texas A&M University Separations Sciences Lab Food Protein Research & Development Center is hosting its 6^th Annual Practical Short Course on Water Issues & Technologies: Process Water, Wastewater, and Desalination on Aug. 8-10 at Texas A&M. The course is also hosted by the Global Petroleum Research Institute and the Texas Engineering Experiment Station.

A Texas AgriLife Research sub-surface irrigation study could reveal ways that will lead to higher crop yields and save water annually.

Takele Dinka, a doctoral student­ in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M University, recently worked with his advising professor Dr. Cristine Morgan to evaluate the impact of land use on the hydrologic response of watersheds containing shrink-swell soils.

For the next three years, undergraduates from universities in Texas and across the nation will investigate the water cycle in a Costa Rican cloud forest with a $550,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded to two Texas A&M University professors.

The ability to irrigate is a key factor in dairy feasibility, according to Texas AgriLife Extension Service specialist, Nich Kenny.

On June 30 the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) adopted revisions to the Texas Water Quality Standards and Implementation Procedures. The standards describe the chemical, physical, and biological conditions to be attained in the surface waters of Texas. According to TCEQ, changes were needed to reflect the most recent scientific information.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched a new online tool for scientific collaboration and knowledge sharing that was built by Purdue University with support from the agency. The Integrated Environmental Modeling Hub (iemHUB) allows researchers to analyze environmental problems and combine models so that a better understanding of the environment can be developed—everything from keeping beaches clean to predicting climate effects.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Texas Water Science Center will hold a series of Regional Cooperator meetings in the coming months. These meetings will include an overview of USGS nationally sponsored programs, future program-funding levels, an overview of the local hydrologic data collection efforts, ongoing hydrologic studies, and updates on advancements to the National Water Information System web interface. Cooperators will also have the opportunity to discuss topics of interest with USGS staff.

Evaluation and Demonstration of BMPs of Cattle on Grazing Lands for the Lone Star Healthy Streams, Supplement to Diagnosis and Management of Salinity Problems in Irrigated Pecan Production: Salt Leaching, Questions about Groundwater Conservation Districts in Texas, and SWAT Training Courses