This month, Dr. Robert E. Mace explores academic publications covering quantifying land-use change in the Rio Grande Basin, using a systems approach to address groundwater sustainability with ecosystems, and observing the Brazos River Corridor’s water, energy, and carbon cycles at different spatial and time scales
Author: Robert Mace
Robert Mace is the Executive Director and Chief Water Policy Officer at The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment and a Professor of Practice in the Department of Geography at Texas State University. Robert has over 30 years of experience in hydrology, hydrogeology, stakeholder processes, and water policy, mostly in Texas.
outlook+water: La Niña is here, drought about the same, next three months favor hot and dry
Drought conditions (D1–D4) decreased slightly to 42% of the state from 44% four weeks ago; statewide reservoir storage increased slightly to 75% full, about 5 percentage points below normal for this time of year. La Niña is here, with a 60% chance of a return to neutral conditions by May. Drought is expected to remain and expand in the southern half of the state.
think+water: A new (free!) book on freshwater inflows to bays and estuaries in Texas
This month, Dr. Robert E. Mace explores several chapters of a new open-access book from Springer’s “Estuaries of the World” series, focusing on environmental flows to the state’s bays and estuaries.
outlook+water: Drought decreases and storage increases, but the year is not starting off good
Drought conditions (D1–D4) decreased to 44% of the state from 74% eight weeks ago; statewide reservoir storage increased to 74% full, about 7 percentage points below normal for this time of year. La Nada is still here, with a 70% chance of La Niña arriving before April. Drought is expected to remain and develop across nearly the entire state over the next three months.
think+water: Water management effects on drought, natech and environmental justice, and firefighting in karst
This month, Dr. Robert E. Mace explores academic publications covering the impacts of water management on hydrological drought characteristics across seven major rivers in Texas, the climate justice implications of natech disasters during major hurricanes on the Texas Gulf Coast, and best management practices to prevent contamination of karstic aquifers from emergency fire-control runoff.