Updates on Water Resources and Aquatic Conservation Efforts Across Texas.

Authors: Lindsey Elkins

Year: 2025

Abstract

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) continues to advance a wide range of research and management initiatives focused on understanding, conserving, and restoring arid aquatic ecosystems across Texas. This presentation provides an integrated update from TPWD’s water and aquatic resource conservation and management initiatives, highlighting ongoing projects that address hydrologic alteration, groundwater-surface water interactions, spring and riverine ecosystem monitoring, and habitat restoration for native and imperiled fishes. Key topics will include updates on current research, monitoring, and conservation initiatives addressing aquatic ecosystems and water resources across Texas. In addition, a state-wide overview will summarize current water resource conditions, including drought status, surface- and groundwater trends, and recent policy or infrastructure developments influencing aquatic habitats. Collectively, these updates reflect TPWD’s expanding efforts to integrate ecological science with water management and to promote interagency collaboration to sustain Texas’s diverse desert and spring-dependent fishes under changing hydrologic and climatic conditions.