Research Thrust Areas

The IWRSP team has diverse technical skillsets to address the emerging research problems related to water quality, quantity, and security. Research is divided into seven thrust areas focused on five areas of collaborative excellence: 1) health, 2) security, 3) energy and the environment, 4) human and social development, and 5) sustainability.

Thrust 1: Hydrology, Hydrogeology, and Flood Control

• Hydrology - climate and hydrologic cycle; precipitation, runoff, and drought; land usage and hydrology; surface water and geomorphology
• Hydrogeology - aquifer characterization; groundwater storage; effects of escalating temperature on water availability, ecosystems, people, health, agriculture, and economy
• Flood Control - flood warning systems and mitigation
• Water Supply and Agriculture
• Rainwater Harvesting

Thrust 2: Water Chemistry, Contaminants, Nutrients, and Public Health

• Water Chemistry - water quality (surface water, groundwater, stormwater) analysis and assessment; laboratory and field capabilities for analyzing water chemistry; chemical modeling
• Contaminants and Nutrients - regulated and emerging contaminants; natural and anthropogenic contaminants; nutrients (N and P) in water bodies; pathogens and viruses; mobilization processes of contaminants and nutrients
• Public Health - contaminants of health concerns
• Ocean Chemistry - biogeochemical cycling in oceans

Thrust 3: Advanced Water Treatment and Reuse

• Advanced Water Treatment - reverse osmosis; brackish groundwater desalination; brine minimization; advanced oxidation
• Reuse - direct and indirect potable reuse; brackish groundwater desalination
• Artificial Aquifer Recharge
• Bench-Scale and Pilot Scale Capabilities
• Clean Water Technology

Thrust 4: Monitoring and Modeling of Water Resources and Climate

• Water Budget - mapping and modeling of water availability and usage
• Water Quality Modeling - flow and reactive transport modeling
• Water Systems Modeling - geospatial, remote sensing, hydrogeological, and chemical modeling of water systems under changing climatic scenarios
• Arctic Ice, Permafrost, and Environmental Sustainability

Thrust 5: Sustainable Water Use, Reuse, and Policy Research

• Water Usage - current and projected water usages
• Water Reuse - direct and indirect potable water reuse options
• Water Policy Analysis and Research - effective communication, education, and advocacy; improved financial and economic approaches; legal and institutional arrangements; technology; infrastructure
• Hydro-Economics
• Demography and Water Utility of Texas and Across

Thrust 6: Aquifer Sustainability, Groundwater Resources, and Ecology

• Sustainable Usage of Aquifer - current and projected water usages; groundwater resources; fresh, brackish, and saline groundwater; confined and unconfined groundwater; Karst geomorphology, hydrology, and environment; irrigation practices in Texas and water availability
• Aquifer Ecology - microbial ecology of producing aquifers that impact the water quality; biotic fluxes and species interactions in groundwater; aquatic endangered species, wetland habitation, and restoration; functions of groundwater ecosystems; ecological basis for groundwater management