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  Best Management Practices and Standards, Training, and Tools to Increase Resilience of the Edwards Aquifer Water Supply During Emergency Fire Control

  Institute for Water Resources Science and Technology and Walter Den

  In 2019 the Institute for Water Resources Science and Technology at Texas A&M University-San Antonio began work funded by the Proposition 1 Edwards Aquifer Protection Venue Project to develop Best Management Practices (BMPs) for protecting Edwards Aquifer water supplies from inadvertent contamination by HAZMAT in water runoff during emergency response-related firefighting. Results of this work are now available for your use. Technical information is available for use in developing and updating emergency response planning documents (i.e., City of San Antonio Hazard Mitigation Action Plan and the Bexar County Emergency Management Plan), educational curricula can be used for training and public outreach, and BMPs along with associated tools are now available for on-site and post-event management and hazard mitigation. These have been developed for use in Bexar County and other areas where the aquifer is susceptible to contamination from disaster response on the land’s surface.

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  Internet of Texas Water Data: Use Cases for Flood, Drought, and Surface Water –Groundwater Interaction

  Rudolph A. Rosen and Robert E. Mace

  Texas’ public and private companies, organizations, and agencies have collected water data for different purposes and at different scales for many years. These data are scattered across multiple platforms with different standards, often making important data sets inaccessible or incompatible. This leaves Texas’ decision makers, industries, landowners, and communities with significant amounts of data of limited use to support real-time decision making, development of opportunities for water security, or for modeling an accurate picture of Texas’ water future. On April 17, 2018, the Connecting Texas Water Data Workshop brought together experts representative of Texas’ water sectors to engage in the identification of critical water data needs and discuss the design of a data system that facilitates access to and use of public water data in Texas. Workshop participants described desires for future water data management and access, and key attributes of a comprehensive, open access, public water data information system.

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  Water-Energy-Food Nexus Stakeholder Information Sharing and Engagement Workshop

  Rudolph A. Rosen, Bassel Daher, and Rabi Mohtar

  On January 10, 2018, the Texas A&M University System Water-Energy-Food Initiative held the Water-Energy-Food Nexus Stakeholder Information Sharing and Engagement Workshop on the campus of Texas A&M University-San Antonio. The workshop involved over 70 stakeholders drawn from the water, energy, and food sectors in San Antonio and surrounding region. Stakeholders attending the workshop heard presentations on the status of San Antonio Case Study pilot projects and other WEF nexus work. Facilitated small-group sessions were held at the workshop to obtain stakeholder input on research questions to be asked, and on limitations and opportunities for stakeholder engagement on WEF nexus-related work in the San Antonio and the South Texas Region. Workshop participants also took before and after surveys to gauge knowledge about the WEF nexus. This report provides information on the outcomes of surveys, the workshop presentations and discussions, and the facilitated stakeholder sessions.

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  Connecting Texas Water Data Workshop: Building an Internet for Water

  Rudolph A. Rosen and Susan V. Roberts

  The Connecting Texas Water Data Workshop brought together experts representative of Texas’ water sectors to engage in the identification of critical water data needs and discuss the design of a data system that facilitates access to and use of water data in Texas. Participants worked in facilitated sessions to identify, describe, and list 1) who needs, 2) what data, 3) in what form, 4) to inform what decisions about water in Texas. They also worked to identify key data gaps in Texas water data, attributes of a comprehensive open access water data information system capable of informing water management decisions, and use cases or pilot projects illustrating the value of an open access, interoperable water data system. The ideal form of data system is envisioned as consisting of several integrated data hubs specialized by water sector, with incentives for people to add new data and share existing data through the hubs. There should be adequate funding to sustain the data system over time.

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  Texas Water Roadmap Forum: Workforce Education, Data, and Research. Institute for Water Resources Science and Technology

  Rudolph A. Rosen

  The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) and National Science Foundation Coordination Network on Climate, Energy, Environment and Engagement in Semiarid Regions (NSF/RCN-CE3SAR) co-sponsored the 2016 Texas Water Roadmap Forum. Focusing on workforce education, data, and research, the forum was hosted by the Institute for Water Resources Science and Technology on the campus of Texas A&M University–San Antonio on November 29, 2016. The forum brought together Texans from diverse technical, academic, research, management, and business backgrounds in water to participate in the third in a series of water roadmap forums facilitated by NSF/RCN-CE3SAR. By envisioning a future Texas where water security is assured for people, industry, food pro- duction, and nature, forum participants sought to develop solid plans to set priorities for action and frame key mile- stones with an overall goal of securing Texas’ water future.

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  Resource Nexus: Water, Energy, Food: Water Forum and Technology Roadmap

  Rabi Mohtar and Rudolph A. Rosen

  The Texas A&M University System and Area 41 co-hosted with Texas A&M University-San Antonio the Resource Nexus: Water Forum. Centering on the WEF Nexus Initiative of Texas A&M University, the two-day event held November 17-18, 2015, in San Antonio, Texas, focused on expanding the scope of the Water, Energy, Food (WEF) Nexus dialogue. Topics included identifying and responding to local, state, national and global challenges and opportunities relative to water resources in research, education, outreach and policy implementation. Other topics included holistic solutions to water security in Texas, and engaging stakeholders at home and worldwide in dialogues that will lead to resolution and prevention of conflict over WEF Nexus-related resources. The National Science Foundation-supported Texas Research Coordination Network, RCN-CE3SAR served as an independent facilitator. There was consensus among participants on consequences of failure to educate decision makers and the public about nexus, changes needed in education systems, barriers to action, and benefits if action is taken.

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  Texas Aquatic Science

  Rudolph A. Rosen

  This classroom resource provides clear, concise scientific information in an understandable and enjoyable way about water and aquatic life. Spanning the hydrologic cycle from rain to watersheds, aquifers to springs, rivers to estuaries, ample illustrations promote understanding of important concepts and clarify major ideas. Aquatic science is covered comprehensively, with relevant principles of chemistry, physics, geology, geography, ecology, and biology included throughout the text. Emphasizing water sustainability and conservation, the book tells us what we can do personally to conserve for the future and presents job and volunteer opportunities in the hope that some students will pursue careers in aquatic science. Texas Aquatic Science, originally developed as part of a multi-faceted education project for middle and high school students, can also be used at the college level for non-science majors, in the home-school environment, and by anyone who educates kids about nature and water.

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  Texas Water Technology Roadmap Forum

  Rudolph A. Rosen

  In December 2014 the Texas Water Technology Roadmap Forum set out to define the most pressing water-related technology deficiencies for which there may be applicable intellectual property (IP) or researched solutions. This would serve as an initial “target list” for IP mapping and subsequent application of available, but unused or underused research in a range of water technology areas.Key thought leaders in the water sector from throughout Texas were brought together to help lay that groundwork. A network of 12 Texas university and independent research institutes funded by the National Science Foundation, called RCN-CE3SAR, served as an unbiased independent facilitator of the forum. This report summarizes that effort and recommends a path forward to help solve Texas’ water problems and move new water technology from lab, to market, to application.

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  Money for the Cause

  Rudolph A. Rosen

  There has never been a greater need for raising the funds necessary to promote the causes that will help build a sustainable future. In Money for the Cause: A Complete Guide to Event Fundraising, veteran nonprofit executive director Rudolph A. Rosen lays out field-tested approaches that have been among those that helped him and the teams of volunteers and professionals he has worked with raise more than $3 billion for environmental conservation.

  As Rosen explains, fundraising events can range from elite, black-tie affairs in large cities to basement banquets and backyard barbeques in small-town America. Money for the Cause runs the gamut, demonstrating methods adaptable to most situations and illustrating both basic and advanced techniques that can be duplicated by everyone from novice volunteers to experienced event planners.

  Each chapter begins with a pertinent, real-life anecdote and focuses on major areas of event fundraising: business plans and budgets, raffles and auctions, tax and liability matters, contract negotiation, games and prizes, site selection, food service, entertainment, publicity, mission promotion, food and drink service, and effective team building and use of volunteers. The author applies each topic to the widest possible range of events, providing practical detail and giving multiple examples to cover the differences in types of organizations and their fundraising activities.

  Whatever the funding objective may be, Money for the Cause: A Complete Guide to Event Fundraising is both a textbook and a practical reference that will be indispensable to anyone involved in mission-driven organizations, whether as a volunteer, a professional, a student, or an educator.