Cuthand Creek photographed on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024.
Smiley N. Pool/Staff Photographer
Stephen F. Austin State University, the T.L.L. Temple Foundation and Angelina College on Thursday announced the launch of the East Texas Water Institute.
The regional initiative is designed to expand resources to communities as they steward and plan for East Texas’ water resources for generations to come, leaders said.
In a region of Texas that is abundant with water supplies, the resource sustains communities, supports agriculture and forestry, and shapes the economy and quality of life that make East Texas unique, officials said in a news release. The region is also navigating aging infrastructure, changing water needs, workforce shortages, limited technical capacity and gaps in accessible water information.
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The East Texas Water Institute will attempt to provide solutions to those challenges and comes at a time when water resources have become a major focus of statewide policy.
Related: Texas lawmakers, voters approved historic water investments in 2025. What happens now?
The institute will be housed within SFA’s Center for Applied Research and Rural Innovation. The T.L.L. Temple Foundation made an initial $500,000 commitment to endow the institute’s executive director position but plans to be a partner in perpetuity.
“For generations, SFA has served as the university of East Texas,” SFA President Neal Weaver said. “This institute represents the next chapter in that mission — bringing together education, research, innovation and partnerships to ensure that water remains a source of prosperity, resilience and opportunity for generations to come.”
Officials said the institute will focus on five areas: collecting water data; educating the public; providing applied research and technical assistance; strengthening education and training pathways for the water workforce; and bringing together regional coordination.
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Charlie Glover, president and CEO of the T.L.L. Temple Foundation, said water is part of what makes East Texas what it is: serving necessities but also providing opportunities.
“When we look at our work like health, education, human services, economic mobility and economic development, the throughline really is water,” Glover said. “It is the molecule of life, and in that sense, it is what allows or prevents prosperity.”
Glover said a thriving future for all in East Texas will depend on how well everyone works together to steward the water, strengthen regional capacity and ensure communities have the tools and partnerships needed to plan.
Among its first efforts, the institute will expand regional aquifer measurements and access to groundwater data while developing public and youth education resources focused on East Texas water.
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Angelina College will serve as an education and workforce partner, helping develop training pathways that respond directly to the needs of water systems and communities throughout the region.
“Reliable water infrastructure depends on skilled people,” Michael Simon, president of Angelina College, said. “This partnership gives us an opportunity to connect education and training directly with the needs of East Texas communities while creating strong career pathways that allow people to build a future here at home.”
SFA appointed Drew Gholson as associate vice president and executive director of the East Texas Water Institute. Gholson brings experience in water resources, agriculture and applied research and will lead the Institute’s development, partnerships and regional work.
Gholson said he is excited to be a part of starting an institute that is so focused on the needs of East Texas and be uniquely positioned to address them. He said they want to be a catalyst in bringing stakeholders together.
“We’re going to be public facing and really connecting with the public and the partners that are going to be involved in this,” Gholson said, “so that we can really work on and focus on the right problems and finding those solutions.”
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In an announcement about the launch, leaders said the East Texas Water Institute is designed to be a lasting regional resource: “A resource for now, and for the future.”
Related: Meadows Foundation donates $2.75M to launch water research institute in West Texas
This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.