Mission
The Water Working Group exists to serve the Texas Panhandle region on all issues of water. As researchers and educators, we will contribute to understanding, mitigating, and solving water challenges in our water-scarce region. Addressing water challenges, while important in itself, is a means to unleash the potential of other resources in which our region is strong—(1) creativity, (2) abundant land, (3) youthful population, (4) deep history in agriculture and land management, (5) strong and accessible education, (6) traditional and renewable energy, and (6) a culture of practical problem-solving. We will thus work in effective combinations of water conservation, science & technology, optimization, policy, data-sharing, community engagement, decision-support, and business/entrepreneurship to equip ourselves and the people of the Panhandle for maximum water resiliency and benefit for current and future generations.
Vision
Our vision is to see water challenges relevant to the culture, people, and environment of the Texas Panhandle be solved in a way which is meaningful both to our current residents and in the long-term, 100-year time horizon.
Mission Areas
At this time, the Water Working Group has the following areas of emphasis:
- Irrigated crops water use and rainfed agriculture
- Wastewater and low water quality treatment and beneficial use
- Increased collection and use of regional weather data
- Social attitudes and mindset towards water
- Residential landscape water conservation efforts
- Ag Tech for wise-water use
- Controlled environment agriculture
- Water use and management in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs)