Water Grand Challenges: 2012 Water Plan Strategies and Recommendations

Date

2013-06

Authors

Warren, Emily

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Abstract

The 2012 Texas Water Plan is the ninth state plan and the third one designed around the regional water planning process. This list of strategies addresses water needs of all water user groups in the state. Water management strategies and policy recommendations suggested by state water plans reflect current issues affecting water resource management. In the wake of the worst drought on record in Texas, solutions for current water conservation problems must include methods for mitigating potential natural hazards. The existing water supplies are not sufficient to meet demand in the face of subsequent drought. The 2012 Texas Water Plan, created through Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), provides state citizens with solutions to water resource shortages in times of drought. Improvement solutions to water management address statewide concerns regarding environmental management, scarcity, competition for resources, and cost. Adaptation efforts are especially important considering Texas’ projected population growth between 2010 and 2060 is 82%. Despite the near doubling of the population, TWDB reports that the projected rise in water demands to meet state needs is merely 22%. Though projected increases appear to be low, any increase taxes an already stressed resource. The amount of available reserves is declining as population creeps upward. Without new water projects, economic models produced through TWDB forecast statewide economic downturn, population decrease, and more than 50% of Texans with a water need of 45% in times of recurring drought. By 2060, the state of Texas will be 8.3 million acre-feet short of water requirements.

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Keywords

water quality, water planning, water resource management, drought

Citation

Warren, E. (2013). Water grand challenges: 2012 water plan strategies and recommendations (Report No. 2013-13). Texas State University-San Marcos, San Marcos, Texas.

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