80R17733 JLZ-D

By: Alonzo H.R. No. 2482

R E S O L U T I O N

WHEREAS, Population growth in the arid and semiarid regions of the United States is expanding at a rate that far exceeds the growth rate in other parts of the nation, yet it is this same region where water sources will or have become limited in their capacity to sustain future population growth; and

WHEREAS, Traditional approaches to meeting growing water demand in urban areas require exploitation of surface and subsurface resources to the maximum extent possible, but these approaches are becoming increasingly costly in terms of both the financial resources required and the environmental impact; and

WHEREAS, Future growth and development of urban areas will require cost-effective solutions that provide sustainable water supplies without associated negative environmental impacts; the development of supplies also will require collaborative efforts among all of the communities, organizations, and institutions that have a stake in the region's well-being; and

WHEREAS, Because Texas is blessed with a diverse geography and climate, ranging from water-rich lowlands in the southeast coastal plain to desert high country in the west, where water supply issues confront not only Texas communities but similarly situated communities in the Southwestern United States and several northern Mexican states such as Chihuahua and Coahuila, the state is well-positioned to take a leadership role in vital research, education, and knowledge transfer in the area of sustainable water supply development; and

WHEREAS, One avenue toward such a leadership role would be the creation of the proposed Sustainable Water Supply Research Center (SWATS) at The University of Texas at Arlington, which, as currently envisioned, would focus on the pressing issue of maintaining a viable water supply for the foreseeable future in Texas; and

WHEREAS, Involving the various stakeholders, the center would provide an invaluable platform for collaborative networks and partnerships among agencies of state and local governments, academic researchers, the business and scientific communities, and other interested parties to gather information and achieve the goal of sustainable water supplies; and

WHEREAS, Performing advanced and innovative multidisciplinary research into mitigation of the deleterious effects of a diminishing water supply on the economy, communities, and the overall quality of life, the center also would provide students with educational experiences to prepare them for technical and leadership roles in private sector industries, government, and academic research; and

WHEREAS, To be headquartered in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at The University of Texas at Arlington's College of Engineering, the center would benefit immediately from an ambitious plan of action that already has laid out specific goals and includes a critical keystone project with a three-year, $20 million budget and a consortium involving the university and Texas' civil engineering community; and

WHEREAS, By establishing the SWATS Research Center, Texas would begin to address an issue that will, to a large extent, determine the economic future not only of Texas but of the entire binational region encompassing the Southwestern United States and the bordering Mexican states; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 80th Texas Legislature hereby express its support for the creation of the Sustainable Water Supply Research Center at The University of Texas at Arlington.