Gauging Water Conservation Efforts of Central Texas Municipalities against Best Management Practices set Forth by the Texas Water Development Board
Date
2020-12
Authors
Spell, Yvonne K.
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Abstract
Texas drought has been a contentious issue in the state since the middle of the 20th century. As Texas population continues to experience tremendous growth, serious consideration should be given to future water supply for the state. A bottom up approach from municipalities would be a broad range approach to combat this issue. The purpose of this study is to compare efforts of 5 municipalities in the Austin region against Best Management Practices (BMP) created by the Texas Water Development Board. Water Conservation Plans from the cities of Cedar Park, Georgetown, Leander, Pflugerville and Temple were all judged against the Best Management Practices. The methodology used was comparative document analysis. Two cities showed full or partial presence of the BMPs in about 60% of the elements, one city showed 51%, and the remaining two cities both showed around 40%. All of the cities presented well written, detailed Water Conservation Plans; the plans varied from 7 pages to 64 pages in length. The results found that this is a solid start for future water conservation efforts on behalf of the municipalities. Continued evaluation, based on future water modeling, should assist in overcoming the predicted future water supply shortage for the state.
Description
An Applied Research Project Submitted to the Department of Political Science, Texas State University, in Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Public Administration, Fall 2020.
Keywords
water, conservation, sustainability, municipal, Texas, practices, Public Administration
Citation
Spell, Y. K. (2020). Gauging water conservation efforts of Central Texas municipalities against best management practices set forth by the Texas Water Development Board. Masters of Public Administration, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX.