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Private Land Summit 2024
WILDLIFE
Private Lands Summit 2024
Water Resilience for the 21st Century
STORY BY LORIE A. WOODWARD
Demand for water is quickly outstripping supply in Texas— and the predicted shortages will have big environmental and economic impacts for the state.
“So many of the issues that TWA is working on lead back to water, whether it’s the effects of drought, increasing development pressure and fragmentation, or biodiversity loss and worsening land productivity,” said Andrew Earl, Director of Conservation for TWA. “Water comes up in nearly every discussion with legislators and landowners.”
And there’s good reason for the concern. In its 2022 State Water Plan, the Texas Water Development Board projected the Texas water supply to decrease by 18 percent by 2070 and water demand to increase by 9 percent. In 2020, the supply was 16.8 million acre-feet per year and demand was 17.7 million acre-feet per year, so the state was already experiencing a water deficit with the population at 29.36 million residents.
Since the year 2000, Texas has gained an average of 412,000 new residents each year. Today the state’s population is 30.9 million with no slowdown in sight. In fact, according to projections from the Texas Demographic Center and the TAMU Natural Resources Institute Land Trends Program, the state’s population is expected to increase by 3-5 million by 2036.
Because of changing weather patterns that include more frequent, longer droughts, the supply is expected to continue to dwindle. By 2030, supply is anticipated to be 15.5 millionacre feet per year while demand will have surged to 18.4 million acre-feet per year. By 2070, supply is expected to have fallen to 13.8 million acre-feet per year while demand could rise to 19.2 million acre-feet per year.
If these projections hold true, approximately one-quarter of Texas’ population will face municipal water shortages without additional supplies by 2070. And this estimate doesn’t speak specifically to shortages for agriculture and ecological uses such as instream flows.
“To avoid or at least mitigate future challenges, Texans will have to think out of the box,” Earl said. “It makes sense for us to use this year’s Private Lands Summit as a forum to move discussions beyond conventional water planning.”
The day-long event, “Water Resilience for the 21st Century,” scheduled for Thursday, July 11 at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa, kicks off WildLife 2024, TWA’s 39th Annual Convention. The forum will feature some of the state’s leading experts tackling a variety of thoughtprovoking topics.
The preliminary agenda includes discussions regarding topics as far-ranging as “The Challenges and Opportunities of Produced Water” to “Leveraging Corporate Investment in Texas Water Conservation with TWAC” and “Ecological Implications of Marine Desalination on the Texas Coast.”
“From its inception, the goal of the Private Lands Summit has been to provide a venue for debate and free-wheeling discussion between our landowner audience and the conservation leaders in the room,” Earl said. “It is an opportunity for the participants to ask questions about topics that they may have heard some about before but haven’t had a chance to learn about.”
The agenda was designed to highlight the impacts of drought and development across Texas’ ecoregions, as well as spotlight emerging tools for water management beyond water planning processes of the twentieth century.
“The Private Lands Summit has earned a reputation as the ‘meat and potatoes’ of the TWA Convention because the offerings are substantive and lasting,” Earl said. “Every year—and this year is no exception—we tackle real issues that landowners are facing and host high-level discussions about the state of natural resources in Texas.
“We want to educate landowners on the challenges and opportunities related to water management in the next several decades and empower them be part of the solution on their own properties and throughout the state.”
Wildlife 2024 39th Annual Texas Wildlife Convention
July 11-14, 2024 • JW Marriott
San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa
San Antonio, Texas
Highlighted Events
Thursday, July 11
Private Lands Summit “Water Resiliency for the 21st Century”
Friday, July 12
TWA Foundation Luncheon
Joint Directors and Membership Meeting
TWA Family Dinner, Dance and Live Auction
Saturday, July 13
Concurrent Education Seminars
Texas Big Game Awards & TWA Awards Luncheon
TWA Grand Auction and Banquet Dinner
Find Out More
To get more information on or to register for WildLife 2024, TWA’s 39th annual convention including the Private Lands Summit, click here
