Author: Leslie Lee

By Leslie Lee Lake Fork is one of Texas’ most famous bass fishing destinations. Every year the East Texas reservoir hosts multiple professional tournaments and draws recreational fishing crowds most every spring and fall weekend. When the Sabine River Authority created the lake in the early 1980s, standing timber was left in place on much of the flooded land,…

By Leslie Lee The Houston Ship Channel is a huge part of the Texas and national economy. Its 52 miles of winding waterways are lined with industrial terminals and plants, providing an enormous amount of jobs for the region. Families also live, work and play in neighborhoods along the ship channel. Southeast of downtown Houston,…

By Leslie Lee The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) has been helping solve Texas’ water issues through research, education and outreach for more than 60 years. In 2015, TWRI’s projects produced numerous accomplishments, and new leadership and opportunities arrived with the announcement of Dr. John C. Tracy as institute director in December. New urban water resiliency project…

By Leslie Lee Megabrood: that’s a term most Texas quail enthusiasts haven’t used in about a decade. But this year, it made a comeback. Rains that soothed and flooded landscapes across the state in May and June 2015 resulted in near-optimum conditions for quail in many regions. Good rainfall, habitat conditions and survival rates resulted…

By Leslie Lee More than 10 years ago, the Texas Bacterial Source Tracking (BST) Program began filling a need in the state’s water quality efforts that no other program was pursuing: in-stream measurements of the specific human and animal sources of bacterial nonpoint source pollution in local watersheds. Before BST technology, water quality restoration projects relied on…

Known for its in-depth science reporting, txH2O has continually sought to help Texans understand complicated Texas water issues. The magazine’s content has tackled the state’s evolving water quality standards, important computer models in Texas water management, hydraulic fracturing water use and groundwater administration. “We take pride in taking on complex Texas water research and translating it into stories that the public can understand…

By Leslie Lee In 2009, the Arab Gulf nation of Qatar, which imports more than 90 percent of its food, set out to improve its food security and established the Qatar National Food Security Program. Its government turned to a relatively new kind of analysis to test the feasibility of its goal: the water, energy,…

By Leslie Lee In a state where rainfall is often unpredictable and generating income from wildlife or agriculture can be risky business, the challenge of conserving rural land and water resources is a passion project for many Texas landowners. “If I was a billionaire, I would buy as many ranches as I could and preserve…

By Leslie Lee Why would San Antonio residents care enough about rural land in the two counties west of their city to vote tax dollars toward conserving it? Why would the city of Austin work to protect valuable nearby land from lucrative economic development? And, why should the average urban Texan give a second thought…

By Leslie Lee Nearly every aspect of Texas groundwater is complicated. Unlike the clear movement of surface water to rivers and reservoirs following rains, the science of exactly how water moves down into aquifers and then within their geological features is more multifaceted. Consider that each aquifer in Texas has different geological and hydrological characteristics,…