Summer is here, and despite the recent increase in rainfall, water conservation is still important for the increasing population of Texas. txH2O highlight No. 6 is an article about how homeowners and utilities can conserve water using new technologies.
Included in the article, Advancing conservation, are the results of surveys by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialists on how Texans’ perceptions of water quantity have changed from thinking there is plenty of water to realizing that water supplies are an issue in their area.
According to the 2008 survey, Water Issues in Texas: A Survey of Public Perceptions and Attitudes about Water, about only half of the people surveyed thought water quantity was a problem. Dr. Diane Boellstorff, AgriLife Extension water resource specialist and co-author of the 2008 and the 2014 version of the survey, said she was surprised by these results.
“To me that was a jaw-dropper, because with our population growing leaps and bounds, even during those years when there is plenty of water, we need to be careful with the water we have, how we use it and the decisions we make about it,” Boellstorff said.
In 2014, the updated survey results showed that the percentage of Texans replying that water quantity was an issue in their area increased from 47 percent in 2008 to 61 percent in 2014.
Other topics discussed in the article include cities that are bringing conservation programs to homes, regional near-real-time water-use programs and the Water My Yard program. The experts also give water efficiency and conservation tips.
Read the full article to learn more about water conservation and stay tuned for our summer 2019 txH2O, a focus on the challenges encountered by water utilities.