Texas Water Journal (TWJ - Texas Digital Library, TDL E-Journals)
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Transboundary Water Sharing: Risk Perceptions Held by Texas Border Decision Makers
No full textDespite transboundary water resource management issues being a source of tension between neighboring states, little research has addressed what causes cooperation or conflict between differing governments along borders. For the most part, natural hydrological boundaries do not fall easily within political boundary delineations, so governance structures and management approaches are often very different once political jurisdictions are crossed, underscoring the importance of proper management of transboundary water resources. In order to better understand what drives cooperative or conflictual behavior among transboundary stakeholders, a cross-sectional study was conducted along the Texas-Mexico border. Questionnaires were collected (N=168) from Texas water managers along the southern border on issues related to their Mexican counterparts. The results revealed that a lack of trust for binational counterparts is correlated (p<0.001) with a decrease in willingness to cooperate; likewise, as trust decreased, perceptions of risk increased. This approach can help identify a plausible intervention strategy that could target activities that build trust between individuals on both sides of the border to mitigate individuals’ perceptions of risk.
Citation: Sansom L. 2019. Transboundary water sharing: risk perceptions held by Texas border decision makers. Texas Water Journal. 10(1):101-111. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v10i1.7095
Interjecting Economics into the Surface Water Dialogue
No full textThis paper applies the conceptual lens of economic efficiency as a criterion by which to evaluate surface water in Texas. We identify two major problems. First, Texas has a water allocation problem limiting the ability to substitute groundwater for surface water to move water between river basins and to facilitate transfers within a river basin. Second, surface water is both underpriced and unresponsive to drought conditions preventing it from being used at its highest and best use. We propose a variety of partial solutions, which include facilitating greater reliance on water markets as well as a water tax that would vary across regions and over time to encourage conservation.
Citation: Vaca M, Richards S, Davis A, Jackson K, Timur N, Manzoor F, Azam S, Feltman R, Griffin J. 2019. Interjecting economics into the surface water dialogue. Texas Water Journal. 10(1):112-127. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v10i1.7062
Commentary: 86th Texas State Legislature: Summaries of Water-related Legislative Action
No full textEditor-in-Chief’s Note: September 1 of every odd-numbered year is the date when new legislation from the most recent session of the Texas Legislature typically goes into effect. With this in mind, the Texas Water Journal invited five organizations that work closely with the Texas Legislature to provide their take on the changes to Texas water policy and law that were made during the 2019 session. The opinions expressed in these summaries are the opinions of the individual organizations and not the opinions of the Texas Water Journal or the Texas Water Resources Institute.Organizations:• Sierra Club, Lone Star Chapter and Save Our Springs Alliance• Texas Water Conservation Association• Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts• Texas Rural Water Association• Texas Water Infrastructure Network
Citation: Kramer K, Mullins C, Robbins D, Steinbach SA, Martinsson L, Hightower T, Fowler PL. 2019. Commentary: 86th Texas State Legislature: Summaries of Water-related Legislative Action. Texas Water Journal. 10(1):75-100. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v10i1.7100
A Tool for Rapid Assessment of Hydrological Connectivity Patterns in Texas Coastal Wetlands: Linkages between Tidal Creeks and Coastal Ponds
No full textCoastal salt marshes are heterogeneous, spatially complex ecosystems. The degree of hydrological connectivity in these systems can be a significant driver in the flux of energy, organisms, and nutrients across the marsh landscape. In tidally driven systems, the frequency and magnitude of hydrological connection events results in the creation of a matrix of intermittently connected coastal wetland habitats, some of which may be hydrologically isolated or partially drained at any given time. Previous approaches to understanding landscape-level hydrologic connectivity patterns have required either intensive long-term monitoring or spatially explicit modeling. In this paper, we first describe a 13-month field study in the Guadalupe Estuary of the Texas Gulf Coast that linked hydrological connectivity patterns between a saltwater pond to water levels in an adjacent tidal creek and nearby San Antonio Bay. We next describe the integration of these field data with high-resolution digital elevation models and environmental parameters to develop a spatially explicit model that is a Simulation of Landscape-level Oscillations in Salt Marsh Hydroperiod (SLOSH). We evaluated the ability of SLOSH to simulate trends in landscape-level patterns of hydrological connectivity between a tidal creek and an inland marsh pond. Magnitude and periodicity of simulated and observed water-level fluctuations in the pond were similar. Highest creek water levels, resulting in high frequency and duration of hydrological connectivity with the pond, corresponded with the highest bay water levels, which occurred during September and October. Lowest creek water levels, resulting in low frequency and duration of hydrological connectivity, corresponded with the lowest bay water levels, which occurred during December through February. By simulating the pulsing structure of salt marsh hydrology, SLOSH creates the foundation on which to assess how additional drivers (precipitation, wind, freshwater inflows, etc.) can influence coastal marsh hydrology and overall ecology.
Citation: Swannack TM, Wozniak JR, Grant WE, Davis SE III. 2019. A tool for rapid assessment of hydrological connectivity patterns in Texas coastal wetlands: linkages between tidal creeks and coastal ponds. Texas Water Journal. 10(1):46-59. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v10i1.7073
Floating Solar: An Emerging Opportunity at the Energy-Water Nexus
No full textTexas is experiencing tremendous growth, which puts pressure on resources including water and electricity supplies. Texas leads the nation in renewable energy production and is experiencing tremendous growth in the solar energy sector, with the Solar Energy Industries Association reporting that Texas is on track to become the fastest growing utility-scale solar market in the United States within the next five years. In this market, a new photovoltaic (PV) technology, floating solar, is gaining attention. Floating solar PV systems use the same types of PV panels as land-based systems, but the panels are either floating in the water (tethered to the land or substrate) or are suspended over a water body. Floating solar panels typically produce more energy than similarly-sized terrestrial systems (because of the cooling effect and reflectivity of the water). The shading provided by the solar panels can also significantly reduce evaporation and can improve water quality by inhibiting the growth of some types of algae and inhibiting bromide converting to bromate. In a climate where much of the state is arid or semi-arid and the entire state is subject to drought, a technology such as floating solar can be part of the solution. Texas reservoirs, water and wastewater treatment facilities, power plant cooling ponds, and irrigation ponds all have the opportunity to realize multiple benefits from floating solar that could not be achieved with a standard ground-mounted PV installation.
Citation: Gamarra C, Ronk JJ. 2019. Floating solar: an emerging opportunity at the energy-water nexus. Texas Water Journal. 10(1):32-45. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v10i1.7050
A Refined Hydrogeologic Framework Model for Gaines, Terry, and Yoakum Counties, Texas
No full textDeclining groundwater levels in Gaines, Yoakum, and Terry counties in the Southern High Plains have raised concerns about the amount of available groundwater and the potential for water-quality changes resulting from dewatering and increased vertical groundwater movement between adjacent water-bearing hydrogeologic units. More than 11,500 well records containing pertinent data were compiled, including data delineating the vertical extents of wells penetrating one or more of the units. Additional geophysical data were collected to improve the spatial coverage of available data across the study area and to reduce uncertainty regarding hydrogeologic unit extents. Across the study area, the average altitude of the base of the Ogallala Aquifer was approximately 1.7 feet lower compared to previous assessments of the altitude of the base of the aquifer, resulting in an increase in the saturated thickness by the same amount. Some of the largest increases in the altitude of the base of the Ogallala Aquifer were observed in central and east-central Gaines County where the units that compose the Edwards-Trinity Aquifer thin at approximately 136 feet and the largest decreases in altitudes are in Yoakum County at around 185 feet. Both the thickest and thinnest part of the Ogallala Aquifer is in Gaines County at just over 300 feet in west Gaines County and around 20 feet in northeast Gaines County.
Citation: Thomas JV, Teeple AP, Payne JD, Ikard SJ. 2019. A refined hydrogeologic framework model for Gaines, Terry, and Yoakum counties, Texas. Texas Water Journal. 10(1):1-21. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v10i1.7082
Commentary: Water Fuels Our Future
No full textEditor-in-Chief\u27s Note: The opinion expressed in this commentary is the opinion of the individual author and not the opinion of the Texas Water Journal or the Texas Water Resources Institute.
Citation: Perry C. 2019. Commentary: Water Fuels Our Future. Texas Water Journal. 10(1):22-23. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v10i1.7091
Economically Recoverable Water in Texas: An Underappreciated Water Management Strategy?
No full textConversations about the value or “true cost of water” and the nationwide infrastructure maintenance gap encourage a reconsideration of the value of utility water losses. Water loss audit data for 2014 for two planning regions that are home to almost a third of Texas’ population and include three of the five largest cities are examined to explore the value of economically recoverable water losses from a perspective that better reflects the regional scenarios under which the state water plan is developed. The volume of real and apparent losses is valued per a new regional average composite price to arrive at an estimation for the water that should be feasible to recover. Normalized values of economically recoverable losses are generated to arrive at a statewide estimate of valuation. Industry standard financial and operational performance indicators are also developed and compared to a larger, multi-state data set. Results are presented in the context of state and regional water supply planning in two ways: 1) comparing the volume of economically recoverable water to the volume of supply expected from water loss control strategies, and 2) comparing the newly assessed value of recoverable water to the estimated costs associated with water loss control strategies.
Citation: Loftus TT. 2019. Economically recoverable water in Texas: an underappreciated water management strategy? Texas Water Journal. 10(1):60-74. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v10i1.7077
An internet for water: connecting Texas water data
No full textThe Connecting Texas Water Data Workshop brought together experts representative of Texas’ water sectors to engage in the identification of critical water data needs and discuss the design of a data system that facilitates access to and use of public water data in Texas. Workshop participants identified “use cases” that list data gaps, needs, and uses for water data and answered questions on who needs data, what data do they need, in what form do they need the data, and what decisions need to be made about water in Texas. They described desires for future water data management and access practices, and articulated key attributes of a comprehensive, open access, public water data information system. Next steps were described to include a subset of workshop participants meeting regularly to further define the goals of a Texas public water data hub, develop a strawman of the hub’s structure, characterize several use cases, and facilitate development of pilot projects that demonstrate the value of connected public water data for improved decision making.
Citation: Rosen RA, Hermitte SM, Pierce S, Richards S, Roberts SV. 2019. An Internet for Water: Connecting Texas Water Data. Texas Water Journal. 10(1):24-31. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v10i1.7086
Integration of the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) observations into the West Gulf River Forecast Center operations
No full textThis article will introduce the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow (CoCoRaHS) network and illustrate its integration into the daily operations at the National Weather Service West Gulf River Forecast Center (WGRFC). An example will be shown on how the data were used during a specific flood event and will illustrate our extensive use of this data during Hurricane Harvey. The benefits of this network will be discussed. The network provides the WGRFC a source of rain gauge data where other sources of rainfall data are sparse and allows for verification of radar-based precipitation estimates. Members of CoCoRaHS provide observations that are vital in assisting the WGRFC with flood forecasting operations. Information on joining this important network is presented in this article.
Citation: Story GJ. 2018. Integration of the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) observations into the West Gulf River Forecast Center operations. Texas Water Journal. 9(1):96-107. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v9i1.7071