U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, speaking at Texas State University's Meadows Center for Water and the Environment on Feb. 9, D-Austin, has secured a second round of federal appropriations, to the tune of $2.48 million, for theat Texas State University to study the effects of climate change on Texas water resources.
"As academics, we can't advocate for solutions. But what we can do is provide information and analysis to inform policymakers," says Mace. Currently this kind of research is"just not out there. There are some tiny watershed studies, some water utilities that have looked at climate change" – notably Austin Water, in the city's
."Our goal is to democratize access to that information." The study will produce a publicly available tool allowing regional water planners to build climate impacts into their management plans., which supply much of Austin's drinking water, are experiencing record low inflows and increased evaporation, and Mace says surface water will continue having a declining yield due to rising temperatures, drought, and development.