2018

Agricultural water conservation is extremely important, especially in the Ogallala Aquifer region. Targeting the agricultural water users in the North Texas area, a program began in 2016 that focuses on conserving irrigation: the Master Irrigator program.

The Texas Water Resources Institute announces the release of the draft Request for Pre-proposals for the FY 2019 National Competitive Grant Program by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the National Institutes for Water Resources.

Dr. Rosario Sanchez of the Texas Water Resources Institute was recently interviewed by Yale University’s Climate Connections about the possibility that groundwater could become a source of conflict between U.S. and Mexico.

The Texas Water Resources Institute will host an Implementing Watershed Plans Training Dec. 17 in College Station for watershed coordinators and water and natural resource professionals.

The Texas Water Journal recently published a paper titled “Water security for Texas: a post-secondary education pathway for water workforce readiness” by Rudolph A. Rosen, Luis A. Cifuentes, James Fischer, Howard Marquise and John C. Tracy. 

Throughout the year, TWRI’s water team publishes technical reports as projects are wrapped up or have new publications related to activity on the project. 

The Texas Water Resources Institute and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service are offering two free educational events on the maintenance of septic systems in December for Matagorda County homeowners.

The Texas Water Resources Institute has published the Fall 2018 issue of its magazine, txH₂O, highlighting the range of research activities across the Ogallala Aquifer region including a Q&A with Ogallala Aquifer project managers, celebrating 40 years of center pivot and more!

Much of the water under the Ogallala Aquifer region is declining at a faster rate than it recharges by rainfall. What does the dwindling supply of groundwater mean for the producers in this region? txH₂O talked to a few producers about what it is like farming on a declining water resource.

The Texas Water Resources Institute announced its call for pre-proposals for students conducting water resources research. The deadline for pre-proposal submissions is Nov. 28, 2018.

If you have your own private water well, do the boil water notices in your area affect you? What do you do if you think your water well has flooded? Is your well water safe to drink and to use for household duties?

The climate and its impacts on agricultural and ecological systems were highlighted in a recent symposium held at the Texas A&M AgriLife Center on the Texas A&M University campus in College Station.

The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI)’s Urban Riparian and Stream Restoration Program will host an Urban Stream Processes and Restoration workshop from 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Nov. 29 in Belton.

Dr. Jason Krutz, director of the Mississippi Water Resources Research Institute, recently spoke to a group from the Lower Rio Grande Valley about how a combination of technology and management approaches being applied in the Mississippi Delta could be used in the Valley to help reduce water use in furrow-irrigated fields while maintaining or increasing yield.  

The Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture, part of Texas A&M AgriLife Research, has received an additional $12.5 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development for the Innovation Laboratory for Small Scale Irrigation, one of 24 innovation labs within Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative.

The Texas Water Journal has published a new article titled “Texas’ water quality challenge and the need for better communication in an era of increasing water quality contamination events” authored by Sapna Mulki, Carlos Rubinstein and Julianne Saletta.

From a math major to a watershed saver, Clare Entwistle, Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) research associate, knows that protecting riparian areas is important for the future of Texas.

The Texas Water Resources Institute will host an Agricultural Best Management Practices for Watershed Planning Training Oct 10. in Reisel for watershed coordinators and water professionals.

The Texas Water Resources Institute is hosting a meeting Nov. 7 in Victoria for anyone interested in becoming involved in a partnership to improve and protect water quality in the Garcitas and Arenosa Creek watersheds.

A Texas Well Owner Network Well Educated training has been scheduled for 1-5 p.m. Oct. 18 at the Bee County Expo Center, 214 S. Farm to Market 351 in Beeville.

The Texas Water Resources Institute’s Texas Riparian and Stream Ecosystem Education Program will host a free workshop from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 23 in Lampasas for area residents interested in land and water stewardship in the Lampasas River watershed.

An Oct. 10 turfgrass and landscape field day for professionals and enthusiasts will offer industry networking opportunities, research facility tours and technical discussions by Texas A&M AgriLife researchers and specialists.

Researchers in Texas A&M University’s Department of Ocean Engineering are working to better understand the natural adaptation of coastal ecosystems to environmental stressors such as storms, rising temperatures and sea levels.

A group of students from Texas A&M University School of Law recently published a report, Flooding Events Post Hurricane Harvey: Potential Liability For Dam and Reservoir Operators and Recommendations Moving Forward.

The Center for Materials for Water and Energy SysTems (M-WET), a new multi-university research center headquartered in The University of Texas (UT) at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering, was recently announced.

Texas+Water has published its sixth newsletter. In this issue, the featured articles include topics on the overall health of Galveston Bay, the state’s lone natural lake, invasive zebra mussels clogging Austin’s water supply and more.

The Texas Water Journal has published a new Program Review titled Integration of the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) observations into the West Gulf River Forecast Center operations by Gregory J. Story, hydrometeorologist with the National Weather Service.

The Texas A&M Water Network is dedicated to building an on-campus network of students and water professionals who share a passion for water.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently accepted the Lavaca River Watershed Protection Plan developed by the Texas Water Resources Institute and watershed stakeholders.

As Labor Day signals the end of summer and beginning of fall, field days across the Ogallala Aquifer region sent attendees off with information about water management and summer crops to carry into next year’s growing season.

The Texas Well Owner Network is hosting water well screenings Sept. 18 in Leming and San Antonio to give area residents the opportunity to have their well water screened.

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters Program is hosting two residential rainwater harvesting and turf management trainings in Boerne and San Antonio on Sept. 20 and 21, respectively.

The Texas Water Resources Institute’s Texas Riparian and Stream Ecosystem Education Program will host a free workshop from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 19 in Corsicana for area residents interested in land and water stewardship in the Richland-Chambers Reservoir watershed.

A Texas Well Owner Network training has been scheduled for Sept. 25 in Carthage.

The Texas Water Resources Institute’s Urban Riparian and Stream Restoration Program will host a workshop from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 27 in Bryan for professionals interested in conducting stream restoration projects around the Bryan-College Station area.

The Texas Water Research Network (TWRN), part of the Environmental Science Institute at the University of Texas, will meet Sept. 13-15 in Austin and the meeting is open to anyone interested. Registration is free.

The Texas Water Resources Institute is part of a new interdisciplinary research project funded by Texas A&M University’s X-Grants program. Only eight total X-Grant proposals were funded across the university.

While August is Water Quality Month, the Texas Water Resources Institute’s water team is always working on water quality, traveling to watersheds throughout Texas. The team is on the road again — this time evaluating water quality near the Texas coast to support local stakeholders in their efforts to restore the water to good health.

The Texas Water Resources Institute’s Urban Riparian and Stream Restoration Program will host a workshop from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Aug. 16 in The Woodlands for professionals interested in conducting stream restoration projects in and around the Houston area.

Three FFA students from different areas in Texas took home the top honors for their speeches about watersheds at the Soil Stewardship Public Speaking Contest in July.

The Texas Well Owner Network is conducting two Well Educated trainings in West Texas and a sampling screening campaign in August.

The Texas Water Resources Institute is hosting a meeting Aug. 16 in Victoria for anyone interested in becoming involved in a partnership to improve and protect water quality in the Garcitas Creek and Arenosa Creek watersheds.

Everything is bigger in Texas including the temperatures. On July 23, the temperature in Waco peaked at 114 degrees and the temperature in San Angelo was 108, the highest ever recorded for both cities, according to the Office of the Texas State Climatologist (OSC) at Texas A&M University. 

The Texas Water Resources Institute is hosting a meeting Aug. 23 in Belton for anyone interested in joining a partnership to improve and protect water quality in the Big Elm Creek watershed.

Dr. Becky Grubbs, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service turfgrass specialist in College Station, has published a Water-Wise Checklist for Texas Home Lawns and Other Turfgrass Areas to help with lawn maintenance this summer.

The Texas Water Journal recently published a paper titled “Systems-level thermodynamic and economic analysis of a seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant integrated with a combined cycle power plant” by Andrew S. Reimers and Dr. Michael E. Webber, both of the University of Texas, Austin.

The grand opening for the Leach Teaching Gardens at Texas A&M University in College Station occurred on June 15 with warm temperatures and sunny skies.

A team of 20 researchers representing Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI), Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute and New Mexico State University has completed its first year of a $5 million four-year grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to address these water challenges and ensure agricultural sustainability in the basin.

Sometimes inspiration strikes in the shower or while lying in bed falling asleep, but for Dr. Girisha Ganjegunte, associate professor of water resources and salinity management with Texas A&M University’s Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, inspiration came in the form of an article about biotechnology and agriculture.

Taking the boat to the lake is a great way to beat the heat, but zebra mussels can ruin the fun. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has a campaign to raise awareness of this invasive aquatic species and to remind boat users to clean, drain and dry their boat, trailer and gear.

The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) has awarded U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) graduate research grants to two students for June 2018–June 2019.

Can water, humans and animals coexist while competing for one resource? A new exhibit at the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History dives into the competition and collaboration surrounding the Brazos River.

The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI), Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality are hosting a meeting July 11 in College Station for anyone interested in water quality in the Navasota River and its watershed downstream of Lake Limestone. 

In a new paper published by the Texas Water Journal (TWJ), a group of researchers for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS), found that the quality of water being extracted from the Ogallala Aquifer changes in complex and unpredictable ways.

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s Texas Well Owner Network (TWON) program has scheduled several trainings and screenings in July.

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters (HLHW) Program is hosting a residential rainwater harvesting and turf management training July 12 in Seguin.

The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) is holding two trainings in College Station in July for water resources professionals as part of its Texas Watershed Planning Program.

The Texas Water Resources Institute recently published the Spring 2018 issue of its magazine, txH₂O, highlighting the global impacts of Texas water research.

A Rainwater Harvesting for Large Systems workshop will be 9 a.m. to noon June 9 at the Texas Tech University – Junction Center, 254 Red Raider Lane in Junction.

June 21 meeting to discuss plan implementation.

More than 200 leaders in water management from all eight states that overlay the Ogallala Aquifer traveled to Garden City, Kansas in April to attend the Ogallala Aquifer Summit.

“Transboundary aquifers between Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, Mexico, and Texas, USA: Identification and categorization,” published in the Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, identifies and classifies the transboundary hydrogeological units shared between Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, Mexico, and Texas, and assesses their potential transboundary linkages.

The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) will host a meeting June 7 in Lolita for anyone interested in becoming involved in a partnership to improve and protect water quality in Carancahua Bay.

With June 1 marking the start of hurricane season, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service is reminding Texans the agency provides a wealth of disaster and emergency preparedness and recovery information.

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, working with area residents, the Clear Lake City Water Authority (CLCWA) and Exploration Green Conservancy, have been collaborating to transform an about-to-be paved golf course into a new kind of nature park that provides recreation while protecting thousands of homes from flooding caused by natural disasters such as Hurricane Harvey.

The journal, an online, peer-reviewed journal published by the nonprofit The Texas Water Journal and the Texas Water Resources Institute, publishes papers as they are complete.

A new monthly newsletter about Texas water news, Texas+Water, has published its second issue. The newsletter is the go-to source for timely, insightful information concerning water issues in Texas. 

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will offer several Texas Well Owner Network trainings and screenings in July, said program coordinators.

The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) has published its latest annual report, highlighting accomplishments from 2017.

Learn about Dr. Rabi Mohtar's work on the Water-Energy-Food Nexus and how he returned to his roots in Lebanon to make an impact.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has announced the availability of up to $80 million in funding for integrated projects to increase sustainable production of food and agricultural products. 

Eighteen student posters with topics across a wide range of water-related issues were featured in the Water Daze poster competition April 3 on the Texas A&M University campus. 

Texas A&M AgriLife Research is poised to be a catalyst in the next major leap forward for water and energy use relating to food and landscape irrigation systems.

A Texas Watershed Steward workshop on water quality related to Big Elm Creek will be held from 8 a.m.-noon May 15 at the Yards of Cameron, 301 Adams Ave. in Cameron.

Dr. Joan B. Rose, an international expert in water microbiology, water quality and public health from Michigan State University, has spent her career trying to answer the question: How safe is the water?

The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) is hosting another Urban Riparian and Stream Restoration Program workshop from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. May 15 in the Woodlands for professionals interested in conducting stream restoration projects around the Houston area.

Texas 4-H is about so much more than just raising animals. Kids ages 5-18 can participate in all aspects of the club including food science, healthy living, robotics, fashion, photography and more.

While many Texans were bracing for Hurricane Harvey’s landfall in late August 2017, a team of Texas university researchers set out to deploy instrument pods along the Texas coast. 

The Texas Well Owner Network (TWON) has received the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s 2018 Texas Environmental Excellence Award in the category of education.

The Texas Water Resources Institute water team along with Ward Ling, Geronimo and Alligator Creek watershed coordinator, and volunteers recently planted native species along the Urban Riparian and Stream Restoration Program demonstration site located on Geronimo Creek at the Irma Lewis Seguin Outdoor Learning Center in Seguin, Texas.

A new newsletter about Texas water news, Texas+Water, was launched on March 22 in celebration of World Water Day. 

A free Texas Well Owner Network training has been scheduled for April 24 in Stephenville.

The Texas Water Resources Institute’s Texas Riparian and Stream Ecosystem Education Program will host a free workshop from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. April 25 in Goliad for area residents interested in land and water stewardship in the Mission, Aransas and Lower San Antonio watersheds.

A Texas A&M AgriLife Research water conservation horticulturist said home and business owners should repair and maintain sprinkler systems to save money and time while reducing wasted water resources.

Dr. Rosario Sanchez, senior research scientist for the Texas Water Resources Institute, will be a facilitator at one of three sessions at an international transboundary conference in May.

The Texas Water Resources Institute’s Urban Riparian and Stream Restoration Program will host a workshop from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. April 11 in Austin for professionals interested in conducting stream restoration projects around the Austin area.

The Texas Water Resources Institute is joining with The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University and the Texas Water Journal to launch an electronic newsletter, Texas+Water

International water expert Dr. Joan B. Rose, winner of the 2016 Stockholm Water Prize, will speak April 3 at Texas A&M University in College Station and April 4 at the Texas A&M University School of Law in Fort Worth as part of the fifth annual Water Lecture Speaker Series, Perspectives on Law and Policy.

The new Urban Riparian and Stream Restoration Program, coordinated by the Texas Water Resources Institute in collaboration with the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Center in Dallas, is bringing awareness, education and the value of stream restoration to urban areas around Texas.

The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) is celebrating National Groundwater Awareness Week March 11-17 along with the National Groundwater Association, the Texas Groundwater Protection Committee and other organizations across the United States to highlight the responsible development, management and use of groundwater.

The Water Management and Hydrological Science (WMHS) program at Texas A&M University is hosting Water Daze, a student poster competition and water lecture, April 3 on the Texas A&M campus.

“Developing Agricultural Solutions for the Southern Plains: Responding to Climate Change and Resource Constraints, A Research and Extension Roadmap for Agriculture and Forestry,” a report based on outcomes of the Resilient Southern Plains Agriculture and Forestry in a Varying and Changing Climate conference, held in July 2017 in El Reno, Oklahoma, is now available online.

A new study led by Dr. Itza Mendoza-Sanchez, research assistant professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health, applied experimental data and mathematical models to understand limitations of biodegradation of toxic pollutants frequently found in contaminated aquifers.

Less than 1 percent of the water supply on earth can be used as drinking water, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. World Water Day focuses on the importance of that 1 percent.

The Brazos Valley Groundwater Conservation District hopes to significantly lower water use per person with public education and outreach programs, starting with elementary school presentations.

The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) has awarded 2018 Mills Scholarships to four graduate students conducting water-related research at Texas A&M University.

The Ogallala Aquifer Program (OAP) was featured in the December 2017 issue of the Journal of Contemporary Water Research & Education, a publication of the Universities Council on Water Resources.

A Texas Watershed Steward workshop on water quality related to the Carancahua Bay and Tres Palacios watersheds will be held from 1-5 p.m. Feb. 15 at the First United Methodist Church, 209 Lucas Ave., Palacios.

Dr. John Tracy, Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI)’s director; Dr. Allen Berthold, TWRI research scientist; and Dr. Askar Karimov, research associate in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, recently attended the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative project directors’ meeting for the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) in Washington, D.C.

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters (HLHW) Program is hosting two residential rainwater harvesting and turf management trainings in Kyle and San Antonio on Feb. 22 and 23, respectively.

The report of the Resilient Southern Plains Agriculture and Forestry in a Varying and Changing Climate conference, held in July 2017 in El Reno, Oklahoma, is now available online.

The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) is hosting a Feb. 13 meeting in Lolita for anyone interested in becoming involved in a partnership to improve and protect water quality in Carancahua Bay.

A survey for agricultural producers and irrigation district managers and board members in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) will continue until the end of February.

The Texas Water Journal has launched a new website on a new url: https://twj.media. The new website is more dynamic and makes all of the journal’s information easier to access.

Some 5,500 College Station single-family residences have reduced outdoor water use by an estimated 320 million gallons from 2010 to 2016, through participating in water conservation research and educational programs conducted by a team of Texas A&M University and city of College Station staff.

Specializing in agricultural irrigation, Dr. Dana Porter evaluates and promotes appropriate applications of advanced irrigation technologies that are water efficient.

Two Texas A&M University professors — Dr. Binayak Mohanty and Dr. Andrew Dessler — were recently elected as Fellows by the Council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science within the section on atmospheric and hydrospheric sciences. 

Dr. R. Karthikeyan, associate professor in the Texas A&M University Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, was recently appointed as the program chair for the Texas A&M’s Water Management and Hydrological Science (WMHS) Program, an interdisciplinary program housed in the College of Geosciences.

Dr. Gretchen Miller, associate professor in Texas A&M University’s Zachry Department of Civil Engineering, researches a topic that is getting attention in the Texas water news: managed aquifer recharge or aquifer storage and recovery.

The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) is continuing to accept pre-proposals for the FY 2018 National Competitive Grant Program by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the National Institutes for Water Resources.