Freshwater Inflows
Innovative Approaches to Providing Freshwater Inflows to Estuaries During Droughts
Setting Water Aside for Biodiversity: Wildlife & Native Plants
Texas Droughts Are HereTo Stay But The Population is Growing
Texas is expected to double its population by 2060 to 46 million people! Surface water will be the source of most of the water for our giant urban centers, yet existing groundwater and surface water supplies will drop, by about 18 percent, leaving a mind-boggling statewide shortfall of some 8.8 million acre-feet per year—the equivalent output of 85 large reservoirs.
Texas Droughts Are Harming Wildlife & Communities
Texas's changing weather, with more extreme droughts and floods, is harming important marine and terrestrial species. Droughts and floods can alter the ecological balance of natural systems and harm fish, wildlife, and plant species, as well as the services that these ecosystems provide to people and communities.
Bringing Water Where Its Needed
Providing Water to Wildlife: Solar Water Wells
Texans have been experiencing longer and more extreme heat events, drought, storm surges, and more. Depletion causes less fresh water to reach Texas estuaries and bays, directly impacting plant and animal species, including the iconic and endangered Whooping Cranes. San Antonio Bay Partnership worked with the International Crane Foundation to provide fres water wells for Whooping Cranes during drought conditions.
Aquifer Storage & Recovery "ASR"
SABP is planning a freshwater “banking” project to increase freshwater inflows into the San Antonio Bay-Guadalupe Estuary System, especially in drought.
SABP has already laid the groundwork for this in a report prepared with Tringale Engineering and ASR Systems as part of the state-wide efforts to advance standards for environmental flows and isseeking funding to design and construct an Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) facility upstream of the San Antonio Bay - Guadalupe Estuary. The ASR will enable water storage and delivery to the estuary during drought
ASR Gets Water Where Its Needed - When Its Needed
ASR involves diverting, treating and injecting, via a well, "surplus" water available in wet years; storing that water in a suitable portion of an aquifer, and then recovering some or all of that stored water and using it to meet a water supply goal - in this case, satisfying STF goals for FWIs to SAB-GES.
- On average, 95% of the water injected into
ASR storage can later be recovered and put to beneficial use - a much higher storage efficiency than surface water reservoirs - ASR requires treating surface water prior to injecting it into aquifer storage in order to protect the native groundwater from any potential contamination. This is typically done by conventional surface water treatment plants.