Texas Water Resources Institute

11/10/2026

We recently had the chance to tag along with three Stephen F. Austin State University graduate students to monitor the Attoyac River and tributaries in East Texas.

Evan Kind, Prajnaa Paudel, and Milan Adhikari, all students at the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, study under Matthew McBroom, Ph.D., chair of the Forestry Department and T.L.L. Temple Professor.

This monitoring is part of our partnership with Dr. McBroom and his students for the continued implementation of the Attoyac watershed protection plan.

11/10/2026

ASMR, water monitoring edition. These soothing sounds were collected while monitoring the Lavaca River and Port Lavaca.

11/09/2026

Italian exchange student Concetta Paola Giuliani has set out for her first semester at Texas A&M University.

Giuliani is a graduate student at the Polytechnic University of Bari (POLIBA) in Italy, supported in part by TWRI, and is now working in Texas A&M’s Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering.

She will work with Salvatore Calabrese, Ph.D., focusing on agro-hydrological modeling, combining plant physiological processes and hydrology to optimize the use of water resources for irrigation.

11/08/2026

Research shows that grazing cover crops can have economic benefits while also benefiting soil health.

This 3-year study showed that grazed dryland wheat averaged $35.91 gross margin per acre. This is higher than any other combination of practices studied. For Texas and Oklahoma producers in the Southern Great Plains, research recommends annual small grains, such as wheat, rye, triticale, barley and oats for both grazing and cropping systems.

Grazing cover crops is not only cost-effective but can potentially increase revenue.

This research was part of the Regenerative Agriculture in the Southern Great Plains project, led by scientists from Texas A&M AgriLife, TWRI, Texas Tech University, and Oklahoma State University.

11/07/2026

“The outcomes of the Regen Ag project are focused on enhancing the longevity of farming operations in semi-arid regions by increasing farm profitability and reducing environmental impacts,” - Katie Lewis, Ph.D.

Lewis is a professor in the Texas A&M University Department of Soil and Crop Sciences and leads the Regenerative Agriculture in the Southern Great Plains project, funded by the USDA – National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

From nutrients to cover crops, all of her research has one common goal: helping farmers. This happens to be her favorite part of the job.

Based at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Lubbock, she researches soil fertility and management practices that help to improve nutrient use efficiency, soil quality and agricultural sustainability. Lewis earned degrees from Sam Houston State University and Texas A&M University and mentors future soil scientists through graduate training and research opportunities.

Read our full txH2O profile of Lewis at the link in the comments.

11/06/2026

Recent rainfall has lessened drought conditions, while exceptional drought has increased, per the U.S. Drought Monitor as of 11/03:
https://buff.ly/SgZisTX

-32.32% of Texas is in severe or worse drought
-6.98% in extreme or worse drought
-0.85% in exceptional drought

11/06/2026

Last week, TWRI research specialist Matt Stellbauer attended the 2026 University of North Carolina Water and Health Conference hosted by The Water Institute at UNC Gillings.

He also had the opportunity to co-host a joint session: “Beyond Access: From Water Collection to Water Service," where they explored a question central to household water security: What does access to water actually mean in people’s daily lives?

11/05/2026

11/05/2026

TWRI has awarded 2026-2027 Mills Endowment grants to six graduate students conducting water-related research at Texas A&M University.

The grant recipients and their research projects are:
Lurui Chen, Zachry Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M: Microplastics as Sinks and Secondary Sources of PFAS in Texas Surface Waters.

Miftahul Mobin Chowdhury, J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering: PFAS Remediation: Nanocomposite-Enhanced Non-Thermal Plasma-Based Advanced Oxidation-Reduction process (AORP).

Nyarko Agyei, Texas A&M University Department of Soil and Crop Sciences: Integrating GPR and UAS Multispectral-Thermal Imagery to Estimate Soil Moisture in Native Perennial Grass-Annual Vegetable Strip Cropping System.

Rudolf Angel Ngangalem, Texas A&M University Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering: Green Stormwater Infrastructure in Models: Potential Impacts for Flood Reduction and Groundwater Recharge.

Yaseen Zaky, Texas A&M Oceanography: Evaluating PFAS Sorption and Desorption Kinetics in Texas Freshwater Systems.

Yinuo Zhu, Zachry Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M: Reconstructing Historical Reservoir Evaporation Losses to Better Understand Long-term Water Availability in Texas.

TWRI administers the Mills Scholars Program, an annual competitive grant program supporting graduate research in water at Texas A&M University and Texas A&M University-Galveston. This program is funded through the W.G. Mills Memorial Endowment and administered through TWRI. Since 2001, TWRI has awarded more than $678,800 in Mills scholarships to support 233 students involved in water-related studies.

Photo: (Top row, left-right) Lurui Chen, Miftahul Mobin Chowdhury, and Nyarko Agyei; (bottom row, left-right) Rudolf Angel Ngangalem, Yaseen Zaky, and Yinuo Zhu.

11/05/2026

TWRI program specialist and Arroyo Colorado Watershed Partnership Coordinator Samantha Colunga presented research, "Assessing the Effects of Crop Row Spacing on Resource Use Efficiency in Cotton Production," yesterday at the Tri-Societies (ASA, CSSA, SSSA) CANVAS 2026 Conference in Portland, Oregon.