Current Research Contracts

The current research contracts are described below. Users can view more information for each study by clicking on the title to expand.

Study 1: Assessment of the Municipal Population and Water Demand Projections in Texas Regional and State Water Plans

Contract Details

TWDB Contract Manager:
Amanda Covington
Contractor:
University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology (UTBEG)
Timeline:
September 2024 through August 2026
View PDF Summary

Tasks

  1. A literature review of other organizations’ population and municipal water demand projection methodologies.
  2. Statistical analysis to assess the accuracy of past state and regional water plans population projections, and the Texas Demographic Center’s population projections.
  3. Statistical analysis to assess the accuracy of past state and regional water plans’ municipal demand projections (with consideration of dry-year conditions).
  4. Quantifiable margin of error translated to reasonable degree of uncertainty.
  5. Assess uncertainty in projections as a means of providing flexibility in selecting the magnitude of and/or shifting the geographic locations of some portion of projected populations (these would also translate into equivalent water demand shifts) and determine the right geographic scale(s) at which to allow various degrees of flexibility.

Progress Reports

  1. Progress Report 1 - February 2025

Study 2: Estimating Non-Surveyed Groundwater Use for Texas Regional and State Water Supply Planning

Contract Details

TWDB Contract Manager:
Emma Jones
Contractor:
University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology (UTBEG)
Timeline:
September 2024 through August 2026
View PDF Summary

Tasks

  1. A literature review of approaches used by other organizations to estimate domestic exempt groundwater use and data assessment.
  2. Integrate best practices and methods to develop a new non-surveyed GPCD groundwater use estimation methodology.
  3. Conduct a case study to develop and test the methodology developed in Task 2.

Progress Reports

  1. Progress Report 1 - February 2025

Study 3: Updating Key Metrics Regarding Outdoor Water Use in Texas Community Water Systems

Contract Details

TWDB Contract Manager:
Heather Rose
Contractor:
University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology (UTBEG)
Timeline:
September 2024 through August 2026
View PDF Summary

Tasks

  1. Assess the data needs for project completion and secure necessary data.
  2. Review methods applied in 2012 report and evaluate new methods.
  3. Evaluate the relationship between CWS outdoor water use and climate drivers.

Progress Reports

  1. Progress Report 1 - February 2025

Other Data Resources