Innovative Solutions To Meet Texas’ Diverse Water Challenges

Texas Water Trade and a private landowner and farm operator cost-shared improvement to convert flood irrigation to high-efficiency sprinklers on a 100-acre test plot of mature pecan trees. TWT and the owner entered into a fifteen-year voluntary forbearance agreement to commit water saved through enhanced irrigation efficiency to remain in place in the aquifer, supporting aquifer resilience and enhancing the sustainable yield of the aquifer and other permitted rights in the system. TWT has been contacted by growers across the country interested in replicating this project structure elsewhere in different systems with different crops. There is potential to expand this project onsite and elsewhere in the aquifer management zone to further protect the larger system of water and agricultural users. Reductions in pumping from this aquifer interval benefit all permitted users in the system and can contribute to enhanced springflows. Demonstrating the effectiveness of these project structures is highly replicable in the region and in other systems across Texas and beyond.

Localized waterbody within the Mid-Coast project area. Replace with the site's description.

Localized waterbody within the Mid-Coast project area. Replace with the site's description.

Localized waterbody within the Mid-Coast project area. Replace with the site's description.

Localized waterbody within the Mid-Coast project area. Replace with the site's description.

Localized waterbody within the Mid-Coast project area. Note: the client's email listed this as Galveston County — please confirm the correct county.

Localized waterbody within the Upper Coast project area. Replace with the site's description.

Localized waterbody within the Upper Coast project area. Replace with the site's description.

Localized waterbody within the Upper Coast project area. Replace with the site's description.

Freshwater wetlands along the Texas Mid-Coast provide critical foraging and roosting

habitat for numerous migratory bird species, including the rare and endangered Whooping

Crane. Through a firm water agreement with the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA)—a

type of water supply typically purchased by industry and municipalities—the project team

(Texas Water Trade, International Crane Foundation, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department,

and GBRA) ensured the annual flooding of 100 acres of managed freshwater wetlands in the

Guadalupe Delta Wildlife Management Area (WMA) from 2022 to 2025.

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Texas Water Trade and its project partners — San Antonio Bay Partnership, International Crane Foundation, Texas A&M University, and a local landowner — are working to implement a focused flows pilot in the Townsend Bayou Marsh, the western region of the Guadalupe Delta that includes critical estuarine wetlands for whooping crane and nursery habitat for many fishery species. The pilot project will gather information that guides the development of a long-term solution to restore freshwater flows into Townsend Bayou and its marshes to remediate high salinities.

Texas Water Trade and its project partners, Galveston Bay Foundation and Manomet Conservation Sciences, work with regional water suppliers to purchase irrigation water in support of natural and agricultural ecosystems throughout Chambers County. Since 2022, the project team has partnered with landowners and managers to seasonally flood more than 2,500 acres of agricultural wetlands in support of migratory birds and other wildlife, and to support estuarine nursery habitats for commercial and recreational fishery species.

Texas Water Trade developed a case study, in partnership with the Office of Sustainability at Rice University, highlighting the success and lessons learned from the HVAC condensate-reuse project at Rice University's O'Connor Building. This case study is supporting similar projects developing at centers for higher education across the state.

In 2026, Texas Water Trade entered its first permanent acquisition and subsequent dedication of 515 acre-feet of senior water rights to the San Saba River Trust. This acquisition enhances and supports approximately 2.5 miles of the San Saba River, preserving and protecting more than one billion gallons of water over the next decade to benefit the habitats, communities, and businesses that rely on it.

In 2025, Texas Water Trade entered a partnership with Camp Sol Mayer, a Scouting America, Texas Southwest Council ranch along the San Saba River, to bolster instream flow in a section of the river that holds critical habitat for local wildlife. The partnership includes a multiyear lease agreement that incentivizes Camp Sol Mayer to leave its water rights instream and provides funding for necessary updates to the camp's water infrastructure.