Ongoing drought, growing population and aging infrastructure affecting water supplies

Having enough water for Austin’s growing population is a huge concern. Add the ongoing drought, record-breaking heat and aging infrastructure and you can see why water managers and conservationists are worried about the future. The KVUE Defenders looked into...

New project seeks ‘equitable adaptation’ of urban stormwater infrastructure, management

The National Science Foundation recently announced project awards for its Civic Innovation Challenge (CIVIC) planning grant program, and the team led by Wendy Jepson, Ph.D., Texas Water Resources Institute associate director and University Professor of Geography in...

Hill Country natives are smarter than you think

“Texas is a land of perennial drought, broken by the occasional devastating flood.” —Unnamed Texas Meteorologist, 1927 The first part of this 1927 quote from an unnamed Texas meteorologist certainly describes 2022 so far. The first half of this year was the fifth...

Flood resilience means thinking upstream, Texas A&M professor tells US Senate committee

Texas A&M University at Galveston Professor Sam Brody testified in a recent U.S. Senate hearing on reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), urging the committee to not only reauthorize the program, but expand it using existing sources,...

Don’t go with the flow

Do areas on your property look like this—sparse vegetation and very little topsoil? Hill County soils are notoriously thin. At one time, this spot likely had lots more soil and vegetation. What happened? Hard to tell exactly, but it’s likely due to a combination of...