Initiative for Watershed Excellence

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The Initiative for Watershed Excellence pursues two primary goals:

Accelerate progress toward achieving sustainable water resources
Develop the next generation of water resource professionals and citizens

To achieve these goals, the Initiative targets impaired and at-risk watersheds with a five part strategy that consists of:

Education and Outreach
Facilitation and Planning
Watershed Assessment
Monitoring Technology Development and Deployment

Over the last 18 months, the Institute has developed several key Initiative components in each of these areas with “starter funds” provided through the a US EPA grant and new funding totaling approximately $1.4 million from a variety of state and federal sources.

Introduction

Population growth and water shortages are driving up the cost of water and impairing its quality to potentially unsustainable levels.

Achieving measurable water quality improvements requires that stakeholders have the necessary resources (staffing, knowledge, skills, technology, funding) and guidance to develop complete, effective, achievable plans consistent with their organizational and individual missions and activities. Thus, because of the wide range of knowledge and water management resources and experience among individuals and stakeholder institutions, the diversity and complexity of watershed issues identified in the targeted areas, and the myriad local pressures competing with water resource protection initiatives, the Initiative for Watershed Excellence establishes a comprehensive and integrated five-part program to be implemented over the long-term in collaboration with multiple institutions throughout EPA Region 6.
The River Systems Institute’s Initiative for Watershed Excellence (Initiative), developed in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency, increases the capacity of our citizens and institutions to sustain viable and affordable water resources.

In pursuit of this goal, the Initiative integrates Texas State University academic, research, and continuing education programs for the purpose of protecting and restoring impaired or at-risk watersheds and developing the next generation of water resource professionals.

To these ends the Initiative engages the brightest and most talented students, faculty, and professionals in the following activities:

Watershed Assessment
Education and Outreach
Facilitation and Planning
Water Quality Monitoring
Technology Development and Deployment

The Initiative’s Core Programs

The Initiative develops and implements programs to increase the capacity of stakeholders to sustainably manage water resources. While many water research institutes support this type of work, the Initiative helps bridge the gap between stakeholders and the university by integrating watershed problem solving into university coursework, research, continuing education, stewardship projects, and campus activities. The Initiative’s programs, which span all generations and address all watershed issues, are enhanced by the Institute’s unique location at the headwaters of the San Marcos. At the Initiative’s core are five programs:

Watershed Management Practicum: Texas State Aquatic Biology and Geography Departments
Professional Training Workshops
Watershed Protection Planning and Management in the University’s home watershed (more information)
Transboundary Projects: Red River Basin (more information)
Watershed Education From Youth to Retirement: Aquarena Center, Texas Stream Team, Diving for Science

The Initiative invites other universities to join the Initiative through the Consortium for Watershed Excellence which focuses Initiative efforts on transboundary waters such as the Red River and Rio Grande watersheds. The rest of this bulletin presents an overview of these core programs and other Institute programs that are helping forward the Initiative.