The Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) and the National Institutes for Water Resources met earlier this month for the 2026 Annual Water Resources Conference in San Antonio.
TWRI Associate Director Lucas Gregory, Ph.D., currently serves as president of UCOWR and conference chair of the event, and gave opening remarks this morning to officially begin the three-day event.
Throughout the conference, TWRI researchers shared water data and findings through sessions, panels, and research posters.
June 8 presentations by TWRI staff
- Associate Director Lucas Gregory, Ph.D., President of UCOWR and conference chair of the event, gave opening remarks and moderated and participated in a panel discussion, “Lessons Learned in Building Partnerships to Fund Conservation.”
- Postdoctoral Research Associate Umar Javed, Ph.D., presented during a Modeling session his research, “Evaluating HAWQS as a Decision-Support Tool to Prioritize Watershed Restoration Strategies in Coastal Texas.”
- Associate Director Allen Berthold, Ph.D., moderated a session on Innovative Approaches in Extension Outreach and Education.
- Research Specialist Audrey McCrary presented at that same session, “Mailbox Marketing: Use of Direct Mail Campaigns to Fill the Extension Audience Gap in Watershed Outreach and Education.” Audrey also took part in a research poster session.
- Director Giovanni Piccinni, Ph.D., moderated the Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability session.
- Program Specialist Saboor Rahmany took part in a Watershed Management session, presenting “Urbanization Dominates Watershed Scale Controls on E. coli in Mixed Land Use Sub-Watersheds.” He also presented “Understanding Water Security in the United States: A Scoping Review” in a Policy and People session.
June 8 afternoon presentations by TWRI staff
- Program Specialist Samantha Colunga spoke on the Lessons Learned in Building Partnerships to Fund Conservation panel moderated by Lucas Gregory, Ph.D., presented “Lessons Learned in Building Partnerships to Fund Conservation.”
- Program Specialist Mary Michael Lipford Zahed presented “From Plans to Practice: Building Trust-Based Partnerships for Successful Watershed Implementation in the Medina River Watershed,” during the same panel discussion.
- Senior Research Scientist Rosario Sanchez, Ph.D., spoke during Lightning Talks: Transboundary Groundwater Aquifers: A Strategic and Vulnerable Resource in the US-Mexico Border.
- Program Specialist Anna Eismont and Research Specialist Shaylynn Postma presented during a Water Quality session, on “Evaluating the Mill Creek Watershed After Ten Years of Watershed Protection Plan Implementation,” with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Program Specialist Annalee Epps.
- Postdoctoral Research Associate Millicent Oyugi, Ph.D., spoke at a Watershed Extension Efforts session about “Predicting Homeowners’ Lawn Water Conservation Intentions in Texas: A Theory of Planned Behavior Change Analysis.” Millicent also presented later in the day at a research poster session.
June 9 presentations by TWRI staff
- Research Specialist Ed Rhodes moderated a session on Solar Farms and Watersheds: Implications for Management and presented “Analysis of Metals in Stormwater Runoff from a Photovoltaic Facility in Central Texas.”
- Research Specialist Amanda Tague was a part of the same session, discussing “Balancing Renewable Energy and Land Conversion: Urban and Rural Patterns of Solar Driven Land Use Change in Texas.”
- Research Specialist Michael Schramm participated in a session, Human Dimensions, presenting his research, “Public Perceptions of PFAS and Drinking Water Quality across the U.S.”
- Research Specialist Matt Stellbauer, Ph.D., also presented in that session, “Beyond Infrastructure: Linking Multiple-Use Water Services and Experiences with Household Water Insecurity in Rural Mali.”
June 10 presentations by TWRI staff
- Program Specialist Mary Michael Lipford Zahed opened up the final day, moderating a discussion with San Antonio Water System Senior Analyst Gregg Echkardt, “San Antonio Water: Sole Source to Diversity.”
- Associate Director Lucas Gregory, Ph.D., took part in a panel about Advancements in Recreational Water Quality Management: Integrating MST and QMRA to Inform Decision-Making.
- Postdoctoral Research Associate Umar Javed, Ph.D., moderated a Lightning Talk session.
- Graduate Research Assistant Ali Niazi presented at that Lightning Talk his research, “Modeling Streamflow and Water Balance Components in the Upper Colorado River Basin Watersheds using SWAT+.”
- Associate Director Allen Berthold, Ph.D., moderated the Watershed Management and Planning session, also presenting “Securing Texas’s Water Future: Exploring Alternative Water Sources through State Planning.”
- Postdoctoral Research Associate Gabriela Suchiapa Magdaleno, Ph.D., took part in the same session, presenting “Can Grazing be a Way to Offset the Cost of Cover Crops in the Southern Great Plains of Texas and Oklahoma?”
- Research Scientist Michael Schramm moderated a session about Education and Public Perception.
- Director Giovanni Piccinni, Ph.D., spoke at the Agriculture and Water Use session about “Precision Without Complexity: Popularizing Crop Water Use Estimation for Global Agriculture.”
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