SAN MARCOS, Texas — As Texas faces increasing pressure on its water supply, researchers and communities are exploring new strategies to conserve one of the state’s most important resources.
One approach gaining traction is called “One Water,” a strategy that treats drinking water, wastewater and stormwater as part of a connected system rather than separate resources.
Now, The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University has launched the Texas One Water Hub, an online platform designed to help communities implement water-saving strategies.
The hub provides research, case studies and tools for planners, policymakers and residents interested in integrated water management. According to The Meadows Center, the platform aims to help Texans better manage water resources as population growth and drought place increasing pressure on supplies.
“The whole point of the Texas One Water Hub is to show examples of on the ground projects,” said Christina Lopez, a human environment research scientist in the watershed studies division at The Meadows Center.
One of those examples can be found in the Texas Hill Country.
At Blue Hole Primary School in Wimberley Independent School District, nearly every part of the campus was designed with water conservation in mind.
“We all know in the hill country that we rely on groundwater; it’s a scarce resource,” said Allen Bruggman, communications director for Wimberley Independent School District.
The school opened for the 2020 school year as the first One Water school in Texas, integrating water-saving systems throughout its design.
Different elements were incorporated to make use of every drop, meaning rainwater, wastewater and drinking water are managed together but used for different purposes, such as flushing toilets or irrigating the playground.
“With the implementation of the one water system, we’ve been able to cut water use about in half. As well as cut the expenditure for wastewater and also cut the cost, it would cost to buy water from the city,” Bruggman said.
Blue Hole Primary is one of several real-world projects highlighted on the Texas One Water Hub.
The campus itself was designed to capture rainwater and reuse water generated on site, reducing demand on local groundwater supplies and serving as a model for future projects.
Lopez says the hub aims to make these kinds of solutions easier for communities and decision-makers to understand and adopt.
“Right now is the time more than ever to work smarter, not harder, to bring water supply to the folks that need it, and we can do that with one water strategies,” she said.
But Lopez says water conservation strategies are not limited to large projects or institutions. She says anyone can install a rainwater harvesting system in their backyard, a relatively simple method that collects rainfall from rooftops for later use.
In Wimberley, the school district says it continues to see the benefits of its integrated approach.
“And I think that’s what the district takes the most pride in. Is being a great example for the community, a great example for other districts in the area of what you can while building a new facility for the students of our community,” Bruggman said.
Experts say the impact of the project could be significant. A 2023 case study from the Watershed Association estimates Blue Hole Primary’s water-saving systems could conserve more than 16 million gallons of water over the next 30 years.