University of Texas Libraries
TEXAS WATER : SOURCES
compiled by Dennis Trombatore, revised 1/2008
Concerns about water -- its availability and quality -- are rapidly gaining the attention of the public, government, and researchers. In Texas, these concerns have recently been focused on issues surrounding the Edwards Aquifer (for which there is a separate guide), but many more areas of interest are developing. Sources of information on water in Texas are wide ranging and complex. This guide will introduce you to some of the major providers of Texas water data, and help you locate publications in the University of Texas Libraries .
This will be a general guide to sources of Texas water information -- research organizations whose mission is to generate publications about water in Texas -- but remember to check the major periodical indexes for published research in journal articles detailing specific water topics that have a Texas focus.
Online Resources:
There are several regional governmental or quasi-governmental agencies and research organizations that gather and publish data on water in Texas. A list of some of these organizations, and some general comments follow. Some of these materials will be in the Geology Library; consult the agency names as author or author index searches on the Libraries' catalog for a more complete list of publications and library locations that might be of interest.
* USGS Water Resources Information
* Center for Research in Water Resources (UT), Austin
ph. (512) 471-3131
* Edwards Aquifer Research and Data Center, Texas State University, San Marcos
ph. (512) 245-2329
* Environmental Protection Agency watershed information.
* Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District
* High Plains Underground Water Conservation District, Lubbock.
ph. (806) 762-0181
* Lower Colorado River Authority, Austin. Information on Colorado River watershed
ph. (512) 473-3200
* Texas Bureau of Economic Geology, Austin
ph. (512) 471-1534
* Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Austin
ph. (512) 239-1000
* Texas State Library, Austin (12th and Brazos)
ph. (512) 463-5455
(This library is the regional federal document depository and the state publications archive.)
* Texas Water Development Board (Texas Natural Resources Information System)
ph. (512) 463-8337
* Texas Water Resources Institute (A&M) College Station Texas Water Net
ph. (409) 845-1851 E-mail: twri@tamsun.tamu.edu
* USGS Water Resources Office - Texas District USGS
(Library: ph. (512) 873-3020)
* Edwards Aquifer Authority (San Antonio)
Publishes a Bulletin series, also informational booklets and videos
* High Plains Underground Water District (Lubbock)
Publishes a newsletter, The Cross Section, and hydrologic atlas series
* Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District
* Edwards Aquifer Research & Data Center (Texas State University-San Marcos)
* Lower Colorado River Authority (Austin)
Published several Edwards Aquifer and Austin area hydrogeology fieldtrip guidebooks
* International Center for Arid and Semi-Arid Land Studies (Water Resources Center) (ICASALS) (Texas Tech University, Lubbock)
Publishes a number of arid-lands studies, some of which are Texas related
* Texas Water Resources Institute (Texas A&M)
Publishes a Technical Report Series, Texas Water Resources, and New Waves.
* Center for Research in Water Resources (UT Austin, Bur. of Engineering Research)
Publishes Technical Report (TD 201 T3 T492 Geology & Engineering Libraries) and Water Resources Symposium volumes. Some have a Texas emphasis.
* Rio Grande Council of Governments - Far West Texas Water Planning Group(El Paso)
* U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Publishes a wide variety of materials, primarily dealing with surface water and flood control. Materials available at PCL Documents, Geology, Engineering, and Public Affairs Libraries.
* Pecos River Basin Assessment Program
The Texas Water Resources Institute has published a number of reports related to the Pecos River Basin Assessment Program that includes studies on springs, sources of saltwater, and brush control.
* International Boundary and Water Commission US/Mexico
Publishes materials dealing primarily with Rio Grande border conflict negotiations and water resources in the Rio Grande basin.
Texas State Agencies:
Today, the Texas state agencies that collect and disseminate water-related data are the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB). These two agencies have the following genealogy:
* 1913 Texas Board of Water Engineers authorized
* 1953 Texas Water Pollution Advisory Council authorized
* 1957 Texas Water Development Board authorized
* 1961 Water Pollution Advisory Council becomes Texas Water Pollution Control
Board
* 1962 Board of Water Engineers becomes Texas Water Commission
* 1965 Water Commission becomes Texas Water Rights Commission
* 1967 Water Pollution Control Board becomes Texas Water Quality Board
* 1977 Water Rights Commission, Water Quality Board and Water Development
Board
merge into Texas Dept. of Water Resources
* 1985 Dept. of Water Resources splits into Texas Water Commission and Texas
Water Development Board
* 1993 Texas Air Control Board (authorized 1965) merges with Water Commission
to form the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC).
*2002 TNRCC changes its name to Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
While each of these agencies issued some publications under its own name, there are several frequently requested long-running major series located in the Geology Library. These series all contain individually titled reports, but those titles are generally not accessible on UTCAT. There are several indexes which contain references to these publications, including two agency-produced computer lists which are kept on reserve at the Geology Library.
Significant state water agency publications series available in the Geology Library and their locations are:
* Bulletin -- Texas Board of Water Engineers / Water Commission
(1930s through 1965)
GB 1025 T4 A35 Geology Library
Most issues in this series are inventories of surface and ground water supplies in Texas counties.
* Circular -- Texas Water Development Board (1962- )
TC 424 T4 A3 Geology Library
This is a small, miscellaneous series, often for the general public. UT holdings incomplete.
*Report -- Texas Water Development Board (1965- )
TD 224 T4 A333 Geology Library
A wide-ranging series of reports with an emphasis on resource modeling and availability. These reports are searchable in the Libraries' catalog by author and title. Many full-text versions are available.
*Records of Wells, Driller's Logs and Water Analyses -- Texas Board of
Water Engineers
GB 1025 T4 A4 (county) Geology Library
Results of a 1930s WPA survey of Texas water. Note: Current files of driller's logs are maintained at the TNRCC Records Services Dept.
There are a substantial number of smaller series and individually titled reports and documents produced by these state agencies. They may be found on the Libraries' catalog using the agency name as an author search, or, if the series title or report title and/or author is known, search by any of those parameters.
U.S. Geological Survey:
Another important source of Texas water data is the United States Geological Survey (USGS), particularly the USGS Texas Water Science Center - Austin. Since 2005, most USGS publications can be found online at the Publications Warehouse. USGS government document series that include materials about water in Texas are:
* Professional Papers (PP) note: particularly includes results of
R.A.S.A. projects (regional Aquifer-System Analysis)
QE 75 P9 Geology Library
* Water Resources Investigations (WRI or WRIR, in 2004 became the SIR series)
GB 701 W375 Geology Library
* Water Resources Data: Texas note: W.R.D. reports for other states are
available in PCL Documents Dept.
GB 1225 T4 A44 Geology Library
* Water Supply Papers (WSP)
TC 801 U2 Geology Library
* Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations (TWRI)
TC 177 U57A Geology Library
* Open File Reports (OFR)
Most since 1981 on microfiche, uncataloged,
in the Geology Library or online at the Publications Warehouse of the USGS (link above). Paper copies of OFRs from the USGS Austin office
cataloged as individual titles at the Geology Library.
Note on searching for USGS publications:
The Geology Library is the primary repository for USGS publications in
the University of Texas Libraries , but it is important to note that many of
the thousands of USGS publications available in the Geology Library are in
several major series and are not listed by individual author and title
in the library catalog. To discover which publications in these series are about Texas,
consult GeoRef (available to anyone at Geology Library workstations, and to UT students, faculty and staff via the indexes and abstracts on the University of Texas Libraries web page), or the USGS Publications Warehouse. One guide of special interest for historical water information is:
* Bibliography of United States Geological Survey Reports on the Geology and Water Resources of Texas
1887-1974
USGS WRI 20-75
TD 224 T4 F729 Geology Library Reference
There is also a United States Geological Survey (USGS) Publication Guide.
Some USGS publications are also available in other libraries, such as Engineering and PCL Documents. Consult the library catalog for holdings.
Bureau of Economic Geology:
Another agency that publishes Texas water-related material is the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG), the state geological survey. BEG publications are published primarily in several series:
* Report of Investigations
QE 167 T42 Geology Library
* Geological Circulars
TN 24 T4 T38 Geology Library
and the older series
* UT Bulletins / Publications
QE 167 U558 Geology Library
For more information there is the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) : Publication Guide, or consult the Bibliography and Index of Texas Geology and GeoRef. Most Bureau publications have individual author and title listings on the Libraries' catalog.
Monographs:
Brune, Gunnar M. 1981. Springs of Texas. Arlington, TX: G. Brune.
GB 1198.3 T45 B79 Geology Library
Estaville, Lawrence E., and Richard A. Earl. 2008. Texas water atlas. River books. College Station: Texas A&M University Press.
GB 705 T4 E88 2008 Geology Library
Sansom, Andrew, Emily R. Armitano, and Tom Wassenich. 2008. Water in Texas: an introduction. Texas natural history guides. Austin: University of Texas Press.
TD 224 T4 S26 2008 Geology Library
Graduate Research:
The Walter Geology Library also maintains a collection of theses written in the Dept. of Geological Sciences at the University of Texas, Austin. Consult the Theses and Dissertations for the Geological Sciences. Theses in other disciplines may be consulted at PCL, and circulating copies, if any are available, are shelved in a thesis shelving area on the third floor of PCL.
Theses from schools other than UT will not usually be available in the University of Texas Libraries , but a quick check of the author or title in the Libraries' catalog will reveal if a copy is locally available. Also, some full text theses and dissertations might be located in Dissertations and Theses: Full Text (you must be affiliated with UT to access this database off campus). If you find a thesis from a school other than UT-Austin referenced in Dissertations and Theses: Full Text that is not full text or on GEOREF, you must request an interlibrary loan of the item or purchase a copy from University Microfilms if no copy is available locally for you to borrow. This process does take time, so it is important to get an early start on such requests.
References:
To search for journal articles and technical reports on water in Texas, you will need to consult a wide variety of reference tools, either in the Geology Library or in other library units. The databases require a current affiliation with the Unviersity to use them off campus. A few of these tools are:
GeoRef: Available online to UT students, faculty, and staff, and to the public on workstations in the University of Texas Libraries , it is the primary source for current research in the earth sciences. Search results can be saved to disk or printed. GeoRef's printed equivalent, the Bibliography and Index of Geology, is also available in the Geology Library reference area.
Bibliography & Index of Texas Geology: These printed indexes are a complete historical survey of geology research in Texas through 1985. Geology Library Reference area.
EI Compendex: This is the second most comprehensive index that covers the earth sciences. The focus is on engineering and petroleum geology and geotechnical topics, with an increasing emphasis on water-related topics.
Academic Search Complete: This index is available on UT Library On-Line. It is a large general index of scientific periodicals, and references much material readily available in the University of Texas Libraries .
Policy and Legal information: If you need information about law or policy, it would be best to consult specialized reference works about those topics for information they may contain on water law and policy. Ask for reference assistance at PCL, Public Affairs, or Law libraries for information on these topics.
Print
this page.