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Mission & Purpose

Water is essential to life.

Water availability is of chief concern as it has a major impact in the examination of a community’s economic prosperity, future growth, and quality of life. Awareness of potential water shortages is increasing, heightened by a prolonged drought that has left Texas, as well as most of the Southwest United States, parched. Finite water supply can leave a region feeling vulnerable, and much work has gone into developing new technologies to increase water use efficiency.

In addition to water quantity, the quality of water is significant. There are many sources of water pollution, such as pesticides, inorganic nutrients, animal wastes, sediment, and thermal pollutants. Texas Tech researchers investigate the ecological, societal, and human health consequences of such pollutants gaining access to our water supply. As water quality is closely linked to efficient water use, a good deal of water research also focuses on water pollution control and prevention.

Protection and prudent management of our water sources is essential, and Texas Tech researchers are healthy contributors to finding "solutions for our future." Previous water research compartmentalized efforts into single departments, but this fragmented approach is poorly suited for addressing the complexity of water issues. In order to best analyze the underlying factors regulating the sustainable use of water resources, knowledge should be drawn from many areas of study, including agriculture, biology, engineering, geology, landscape architecture, and law. While interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary water research is praised, its practice must be encouraged.

The Texas Tech University Water Initiative serves not only to raise the visibility of past and current water-related research at Texas Tech, but also to facilitate interdisciplinary interaction among our campuswide community of water scholars. Under the guidance of the Water Leadership Council, the Water Initiative provides the forum for comprehensively cataloging water research at Texas Tech, spotlighting the individuals and collaborators performing the investigations, and advertising the diversity and breadth of water research and education here at our University.

Explore our site for more information about the work of the Water Initiative, the Water Leadership Council, and the water-focused entities at Texas Tech University. Texas Tech University and its water researchers are affiliated with the nationwide initiative Solutions for our Future; please visit their site for more information.