Texas Water Symposium to discuss watershed plans for growing region

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
Office of Media Relations
February 8, 2017

The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University will host the third Texas Water Symposium of the 2016-2017 season at 7 p.m. Thursday, February 23, in the LBJ Student Center Teaching Theater.

The Texas Water Symposium is free and open to the public.

With the population of Central Texas expected to double in the next 30 years and many Hill Country communities already growing at incredible rates, the area is seeing an increasing threat to the health of available water resources. Local communities across the region and the state are taking action to protect the creeks, springs and rivers they rely on for drinking water, recreation, habitat and economic stability.

“We are constantly amazed by the enthusiasm and dedication local residents contribute to maintain the health of their neighborhood rivers and creeks,” said Meredith Miller, watershed services program coordinator for The Meadows Center. “Without leadership from community members in identifying threats to river health and ways to overcome them, these plans would not be nearly as successful.”

Miller will be joined by representatives from the City of Austin, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, the San Marcos River Foundation and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for a panel discussion.

Andrew Sansom, executive director of The Meadows Center, will moderate the panel of expert practitioners in a detailed conversation about the benefits of watershed protection efforts that focus on local participation and leadership. The full program can be found at www.hillcountryalliance.org/texaswatersymposium. 

Watershed protection plans are a tool to bring landowners together to protect those critical water resources and offer opportunities to leverage local resources with state and national dollars toward conservation solutions. Millions of dollars have been invested in watershed protection plans for Hill Country rivers and creeks, funding best management practices, restoration, and low impact development.

The symposium is a partnership project of Schreiner University, Texas Tech University, Texas Public Radio and the Hill Country Alliance.

The Hill Country Alliance is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to raise public awareness and build community support around the need to preserve the natural resources and heritage of the Central Texas Hill Country. For more information, visit www.hillcountryalliance.org.     

About Texas State University

Founded in 1899, Texas State University is among the largest universities in Texas with an enrollment of 38,849 students on campuses in San Marcos and Round Rock. Texas State’s 170,000-plus alumni are a powerful force in serving the economic workforce needs of Texas and throughout the world. Designated an Emerging Research University by the State of Texas, Texas State is classified under “Doctoral Universities: Higher Research Activity,” the second-highest designation for research institutions under the Carnegie classification system.