LEUWCD & PBUWCD Art Contest

The 3rd annual Art contest is taking place at the Llano Estacado Underground Water Conservation District and the Permian Basin Underground Water Conservation District. Below are the 2009 LEUWCD and PBUWCD Calendar Art Contest Grand Prize Winners.




Each water conservation district within the education cooperative sponsors an art contest for fourth and fifth grade students. The program communicates the message of water conservation to the schools by giving a detailed and interactive presentation. Winning artwork is featured in a calendar published by each district and offered free to the public.


The first place winner in each district receives a $50 cash prize, a certificate of recognition and has his or her artwork featured on the cover of the calendar. Twelve second place winners each receive a $25 cash prize, a certificate of recognition and have their artwork featured on one month inside the calendar.



The winning pictures will be featured on the Education website at www.savingh2o.org. We will also post the winning pictures on an upcoming blog.

Ag & Oil Day 2009

This past Thursday, I participated in the 2009 Ag & Oil Day in Seminole, Texas. Representing the Llano Estacado UWCD, I gave a presentation to 250 5th graders on the topic of rainwater harvesting. The students were from the schools of Seminole, Loop & Seagraves. Following the presentation, students painted Three barrels that will later be donated to their schools.

The LEUWCD Booth.

I started the presentation off by explaining to the kids what rainwater harvesting is and why it is important. i then talked about the rainwater harvesting process and how the rain gets into the barrels. We then discussed different ways that their communities could use rainwater.

Each student painted the barrel by using a sponge.

The finished product. The kids were very proud of what they had done and I cannot wait to give them their rain barrel.

Major Rivers Workshop

On Monday, September 14th, a Major Rivers workshop was hosted by the Education Cooperative. The event was held at the ESC Service Center in Lubbock, Texas. Teahers from different school districts within Region 17,came together to learn about the Major Rivers curriculum and how they could implement the program in their classrooms.

Facilitating the day’s events, from the Texas Water Development Board, was Linda Ruiz McCall and her assistant, Whitney Milberger-Laird. McCall & Laird walked the teachers through the Major Rivers curriculum and showed them how to engage their students in the programs activities.

Whitney Laird teaching a Major Rivers activity

Teachers participating in Major Rivers Lesson: Water Coursing Through History

Linda McCall showing teacher how to use Groundwater/Surface Model

Two guest speakers were also present to give the educators a presentation on groundwater districts & irrigation practices in West Texas. Speakers included, Jason Coleman, Manager of the South Plains UWCD & Dr. Dana Porter of Texas AgrilLife Extension. I also gave a brief presentation on the Education Cooperative.

Jason Coleman speaking to teachers

The day’s events concluded with each teacher receiving a Major Rivers kit, donated by the Brazos River Authority, and a small token of appreciation from the Education Cooperative.

For more information on the Major Rivers Program you can visit the TWDB website at http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/edu/MajorRivers/index.asp

or contact myself for information on how to receive a Major Rivers packet.

2007 Water Use Survey Summary Estimates by City

I received the following information via email this morning. I thought it was worth posting on the blog.



I encourage you to take the time to read the text before clicking on the link to view the data.

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What is different about the 2007 Water Use Estimates?

For the first time, an estimate of residential water use per capita is included for some of the state’s cities. Residential water use is intended to reflect the water billed to single and multi-family residences, and includes both indoor and outdoor water uses. The remainder, non-residential water use, reflects the water used for all other purposes, primarily commercial (non-industrial) businesses and government institutions, and is a function of the size of the city’s workforce and the composition of its businesses, as well as the size of the resident population.

Why was residential water use not shown separately in previous years?

The history of the Water Use Survey was to develop estimates, for purposes of future water supply planning, of the total amount of water needed to support a city’s residents and its economy. Such an estimate was never intended to be used as a method of comparison between cities for the purpose of implying relative conservation efforts, because the estimate is particularly ill-suited for that purpose. However, with the growth of interest in conservation, it was clear that an estimate more suitable for comparison purposes should be developed. A series of changes was made in the Water Use Survey to begin requesting separate data on residential water use. For the 2007 estimates, it was determined that the residential water use estimates were of sufficient reliability for enough cities to begin publication. While there will remain valid reasons for differences between cities even in residential water use per capita, we hope that these new estimates will provide a more useful method with which to examine differences in habits regarding water use.

Why is residential water use not shown for some cities?

While the separate reporting of residential water use has been encouraged, it has not been required to consider a survey administratively complete. Many water systems are likely to lack the capability of tracking residential use separately, while others simply failed to report or reported an amount which was inconsistent with their reported total water use and generated an estimate of residential GPCD which was considered too unreliable to publish. TWDB staff will be working with those major cities for which residential use was not published in an effort to correct these problems.


2007 Water Use Survey
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For more information:

Dan Hardin Kevin Kluge
Director, Water Resource Planning Team Lead Water Use Surveys & Estimates
(512) 936-0880 (512) 936-0829
dan.hardin@twdb.state.tx.us kevin.kluge@twdb.state.tx.us