Water has been a constant presence for Tina Hendon. Growing up in Johnson City, Texas, which sits on the banks of the Pedernales River, her childhood vacations were usually spent fishing and camping along the river or venturing less than 20 miles south to the Blanco River.
“I was always interested in what was in the water and what was living in it,” she said. “I was always picking up rocks and seeing what was under them and figuring out, what kind of fish did I catch?”
Wanting to be a marine biologist growing up, Hendon had no idea then that her childhood fascination would lead her to a career of over 35 years in Texas water, taking her across the state as she researched water, educated residents, and mentored people from all over the United States.
Hendon retired from the Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) in October of 2025. She recently reflected on her career journey, how she’s seen the Texas water scene change and what’s next for her.
A change in course
The first in her family to attend college, Hedon started her academic journey at Tarleton State University as a computer programmer.
“I guess I’ve always enjoyed the process of things and how things build on each other,” she said. “If you follow a process, then what you come out with is at least dependable, right?”
As she progressed in her classes, though, she realized that maybe she wasn’t on her intended path. Talking with the head of the computer sciences department at Tarleton, he asked, “What did you want to do when you were a kid?”
“I said, I wanted to be a marine biologist. He said, ‘Well, you should go talk to Dr. Keith over in the biology department.’ So I did, and I changed my major to biology.”
Hendon as an intern working on an oyster cultivation project at Texas A&M Galveston.
Hendon graduated from Tarleton State with a degree in biology with aquatic emphasis and soon joined the newly formed Texas Institute for Applied Environmental Research.
“I was able to follow biology from there. We were sampling water quality and what was living in the lakes and streams there, around Stephenville,” she said. “We were looking at the effects of land management practices on water quality and ecosystems in the Bosque River, which is a big, big deal in Texas. There were all kinds of lawsuits, especially around the dairy industry, based on our data.”
New opportunities and career growth
Life moved on for Hendon as her career journey took her into the private sector, as an environmental project manager at Freese and Nichols, and she even dipped her toes into marketing for her husband’s business. In 2006, she joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a water quality standards coordinator based in Dallas.
“At the time, that was like the Holy Grail of environmental work,” Hendon said. “And that was probably the most rewarding and fun job I’ve ever had. In water quality standards, you have to be kind of half-scientist and half-lawyer. That spoke to my need for everything to be documented, processes and procedures and precedent. That fed very nicely into my tendency toward processes and procedures, plus I’ve got the science and biology background.”
Hendon with the EPA ODMS survey quality assurance team.
Her role also gave her the chance to live out her childhood dreams of marine biology, being deployed on research vessels in the Gulf, doing nutrient surveys, taking water quality samples and more.
“It was really, really cool. We would watch sea turtles and rays, and flying fish would come up and cruise beside the ship. So I got to experience a small piece of the marine world, and was still dealing with water,” Hendon said.
Hendon onboard the OSV Bold during a survey of Ocean Dredge Disposal Sites along the Texas coast in 2012.
During her time at the EPA, Hendon was also involved with TWRI. Attending the Texas Watershed Planning Short Courses as an EPA representative and providing her perspectives as a federal employee in water. By that time, she was a nonpoint source program coordinator.
While she deeply enjoyed her work at EPA, Hendon took on a new challenge in 2013 and became a watershed program manager at the Tarrant Regional Water District.
“That was a super rewarding opportunity for me to get to work in drinking water for the first time. Our program focused on protecting water quality and quantity by using and protecting good land management techniques,” she said. “And I got my first taste of working with urban stormwater issues.”
Hendon leading an educational program for youths at TRWD.
In 2020, her path changed again when Hendon’s husband was transferred to Houston for his work, and she found a job with Ecosystem Planning and Restoration, a small consulting firm focused on stream restoration and transportation projects.
“I thought that would be a really good opportunity to learn a different aspect of what I’d done in watershed protection,” Hendon said. “And learn more about how you can work with engineers, biologists, and ecologists to physically modify a stream instead of depending solely on restoring the watershed.”
Hendon found her way to TWRI as a program specialist in 2024 and began assisting in developing watershed-based plans and delivering educational programs for watershed and water quality improvement.
Reflecting on three decades of Texas water
As she’s progressed in her career, Hendon’s seen how Texas water has changed as well. She feels that some of the biggest changes have come in the last decade, but started over 40 years ago.
“During the environmental movement, and after the Clean Water Act was implemented in the 1970s, a lot of people went into various aspects of environmental sciences. Careers in the technical, regulatory, and environmental law became a big thing,” she explained.
This influx of people into the field all at once made for a ‘retirement tsunami,’ starting in the 2000s, Hendon said. Losing experienced professionals highlighted the need for mentorship.
“There was a lot of mentoring that went on within the larger community, between all age groups and experience levels,” Hendon said. “And it didn’t matter if you were a state or a fed or local or whatever, and that’s what I feel like diminished a lot in recent years, because we don’t have the opportunity to network or go to as many conferences anymore. We don’t have as many opportunities for that face-to-face interaction as we used to.”
“Plus, after 2008, there were hiring freezes everywhere. So, more experienced folks were getting ready to retire, and were retiring, and there was nobody coming in to learn from them or to backfill their positions. And so now we have an age gap in knowledge and capacity. I’m on the younger end of that retirement tsunami. Most of my colleagues are already retired. The people that I came in with, my mentors, retired 10-15 years ago.”
The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting emphasis on remote work have exacerbated the gaps in institutional knowledge transfer, she said.
“And after COVID, there was a major shift to interacting and attending meetings through Zoom and Teams. Even though there’s beginning to be more conferences and in-person networking opportunities, it’s not as widespread as it once was.”
Advice for early-career water professionals
The solutions to these challenges are part of Hendon’s advice for the next generation of water professionals.
“Create those relationships, seek people out. Don’t just rely on online relationships. That’s maybe a great way to be introduced to people, but it’s not a good way to get to know people,” she said. “It benefits both parties when you’ve got a strong network of people, connecting other people to opportunities. It benefits everybody, not just less experienced folks, but it benefits the more experienced ones, too.”
Looking back on her career, Hendon is grateful for those who have helped her grow and reach for new heights.
“In all my jobs, I’ve had incredible bosses that have been nurturing, that gave me experience and education and opportunities to fail in a safe way,” she said. “And I think every one of them supported career advancement, even if it meant going to another organization.”
As for what’s next, Hendon is still around at TWRI as a part-time program aide, providing mentorship and assistance. What she’s most looking forward to in her retirement, though, is the chance to focus on what really matters to her.
“I want to spend more time with family and friends,” she said. “I’ve got a list of home projects, but I also want to spend time visiting friends and family, and finding new hobbies.”
