NewsDrop-Oct_Nov-2025

WATER RESOURCES

By: Isabel Martinez Senior Permit & Conservation Coordinator

TWDB GRANT

SINCE THE CREATION OF THE IRRIGATION EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM, WHICH IS THE EAA’S GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION GRANT PROGRAM, THE EAA HAS PARTNERED WITH VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS TO HELP THE REGION’S AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS INCREASE THEIR WATER SAVINGS FOR TEXAS WHILE RAISING THEIR CROPS.

The projects that were made possible from the collaboration between the TWDB, the EAA and the producers allowed approximately 1,501 acre-feet in water sav ings (or almost 489 million gallons). In July 2025, the TWDB announced that the EAA would receive $300,000 in grant funding for the Irrigation Efficiency Improvement Program thus allowing the EAA to award a total of $600,000 in grant projects this year which would save an estimated 600 acre-feet of water. This summer, TWDB staff from the Agricultural Water Conservation Depart ment traveled to San Antonio to visit with EAA staff, learn about the research performed at the Field Research Park (FRP), and tour the Education Outreach Center (EOC). EAA Aquifer Management Services staff Mark Hamilton, Brent Doty, Thomas Marsalia, and Rebecca Nunu accompanied our visitors at the FRP

and explained the various land management and soil restoration projects being studied for their potential for groundwater sustainability. Elizabeth Gutierrez, STEAM Outreach Educator II, from the Communications & Development team then guided them on a tour of the EOC where they were able to engage with the center’s interactive learning stations and learn about the presentations EOC visi tors experience. Last but least, TWDB staff also visited with a local farmer who received an EAA grant for a new overhead sprinkler system. This allowed staff to witness first hand how their funding has contributed to helping agricultural communities, improve water savings, and promote effective water management, which will hopefully lead to more partnership opportunities in the future.

The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) has been one of those agencies who has supported the grant program for several years. The TWDB manages the Agriculture Water Conservation Grant program which offers grant funding for agriculturally focused water saving projects, such as improving irrigation efficiencies through the purchase of new irrigation equipment. It is through this program that the TWDB supported the EAA’s conservation grant program with supplemental funding to replace and improve irrigation methods in the region’s farming communities.

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