Binational group discusses water issues

Water-related issues critical to Texas as well as the rest of the nation were discussed at an all-day conference held at the LBJ School on February 6. The LBJ School, the College of Natural Sciences' Environmental Science Institute, and the College of Liberal Arts' Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies cosponsored the event.

The conference drew government officials and scientists from Texas and Mexico to address water quantity and quality along the Rio Grande/Río Bravo. One session featured a computer-assisted simulation exercise of water allocation under drought conditions, with real-life U.S. and Mexican water managers as the players. Other sessions focused on such Mexico-Texas border issues as coastal zone research, river basin studies, and the challenges of regulating water quantity and quality.

According to LBJ School Professor David J. Eaton, who helped organize the event, the conference presented the "quality and diversity of research on the Río Bravo/Rio Grande at UT Austin." He added that the LBJ School will convene a number of water users and policymakers from both sides of the border on June 24-25 to conduct a joint operations exercise and to observe whether water supply and quality issues can be addressed through joint problem-solving measures.

Other session leaders included LBJ School Professor Jurgen Schmandt; representatives from the U.S. Geological Survey; and a number of scholars from UT Austin, Texas A&M University, and Mexico. Several Texas government officials were also involved in the panels and exercises. These included Texas Secretary of State Gwen Shea, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs, Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission Chair Robert J. Huston, and Texas Water Development Board Executive Administrator Craig Pedersen (LBJ Class of 1981).

Contents • Record Home • Publications • LBJ School

May 13, 2002

comments to: lbjwmast@uts.cc.utexas.edu