Texas Tech University

Texas Alliance for Water Conservation

Outreach and Engagement

Texas Water Alliance

Texas leads the nation in many agricultural enterprises while also experiencing severe drought conditions in several of its regions.

Texas leads the nation in many agricultural enterprises while also experiencing severe drought conditions in several of its regions. This disparity taxes already diminishing water resources such as the Ogallala Aquifer that spans Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Agricultural and urban water consumption reduces this underground water reserve at a rate faster than it is replenished. The Ogallala supports one fifth of the total annual U.S. agricultural harvest. The loss of the aquifer would have a devastating economic impact on the region. Conservation of this resource is vital.

Creating a solution

The Texas Alliance for Water Conservation (TAWC) strives to “identify, demonstrate, and quantify water-saving agricultural production practices and technologies that will reduce the depletion of groundwater” in the Texas Panhandle and Rio Grande Valley. Initially, TAWC was established after the Texas Water Development Board awarded Texas Tech University a grant of up to $6.2 million in 2004. TAWC “uses on-farm demonstrations of cropping and livestock systems to compare the production practices, technologies, and systems that can maintain individual farm profitability while improving water use efficiency with a goal of extending the life of the Ogallala Aquifer while maintaining the viability of local farms and communities.” TTU faculty work directly with producers to study and test best water conservation practices.

Having an impact

Community engagement is central to the success of this project. TAWC cultivates mutually beneficial relationships with industries, crop consultants, universities, and government organizations. More specifically, they partner with 20 core producers to ascertain their explicit water consumption interests, needs, and concerns. Production related decisions are made by these partner producers using a variety of agricultural practices on over 6,000 acres of project field sites in Lubbock and surrounding counties.

In an interview, Chuck West, TAWC Administrative Director explained that they can provide producers with side-by-side comparisons of irrigation technology in terms of not only efficiency but cost effectiveness. TAWC's ability to test and advance irrigation technology and best practices often creates opportunities to forge new alliances. In fact, West measures the success of the Texas Alliance for Water Conservation by how many new partners “seek us out” and anticipates reaching out to others in the next phase of their research.

While community partnerships are integral to the success of TAWC, so are the University's students. West described how students work alongside Texas Tech faculty and community partners to “translate research into usable tools.” Students foster relationships with area producers and garner an understanding that extends beyond their classroom instruction. Their insights produce published research, professional presentations, demonstrations, technologies, and strategic relationships that further not only their own expertise but directly benefit their community partners.

Sustainability

TAWC exemplifies the limitless benefits available to the university and the community by forming strategic partnerships. Rapid water depletion rates affect countless populations and the efforts on behalf of TAWC offer tangible solutions that are timely, necessary, and cost effective. The published and professional works produced by faculty and students advance not only scholarship but also the industry. Data gathered over the past 10 years of the TAWC Project have been used to develop free online tools producers can access to enhance their irrigation management. These tools are found at www.tawcsolutions.org. TAWC will continue to listen to producers and strive to provide the necessary information and tools they need in their production decisions while providing alternative strategies of crop, livestock and water management through web-based tools, education and outreach while conserving precious water and natural resources.

For more information, contact Chuck West, Department of Plant and Soil Science, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources; phone: (806)742-2774; e-mail: chuck.west@ttu.edu.

Outreach & Engagement