Texas Partnership for Forests & Water
Mission
To sustain and enhance healthy, productive Texas forested watersheds that provide safe, reliable drinking water and forest products through strong partnerships, collaboration, funding, and action.
The Texas Partnership for Forests & Water (TPFW) is a statewide collaboration that works to increase communication and cooperation across the forest, water, corporate, and conservation sectors. The collaboration is part of a larger regional network, the Southeastern Partnership for Forests and Water, that focuses on strategies to enhance forest watershed management and retention to benefit water resources and local economies throughout the Southeast.
We have four focus areas:
- Watershed assessment,
- Education and outreach,
- Land conservation and stewardship, and
- Strategic partnerships.
Early efforts focused on identifying the most important forestlands for protecting surface drinking water supplies and educating critical audiences on the connection between healthy forests and clean drinking water.
A geospatial watershed assessment following the USDA Forest Service’s Forests to Faucets methodology was conducted to identify priority watersheds. The analysis used data on public surface water supplies, forest cover, forest threats, and existing partnerships that could be leveraged. High priority watersheds was identified in Northeast Texas, Northwest Houston, Southeast Texas, and the Hill Country.
While education and outreach are a continual process, recent efforts have focused on advancing educational efforts in priority watersheds through land stewardship and strategic partnerships. Partner organizations work with private landowners every day to plan and implement land stewardship practices that provide a range of benefits that enhance water resources, wildlife habitat, and carbon storage.
We also support local funding mechanisms for watershed protection. In 2020, voters overwhelmingly approved a $75 million Hays County Parks Bond. This bond created funding to leverage the Texas State Revolving Fund Loan Program to protect drinking water watersheds, create new parks, and increase green spaces and natural areas throughout the county for flood mitigation.
Additionally, we work with water providers to develop source water protection plans, engage in resiliency initiatives, and support corporate sustainability goals.
History
The Texas Partnership for Forests & Water was established at the inaugural Texas Forests & Drinking Water Forum hosted by Texas A&M Forest Service and Texas Rural Water Association at Lake Conroe in 2015. At this meeting, 50 professionals in the forest and water sector agreed on the importance of healthy forests to the state’s water supply. There was strong consensus that maintaining or expanding healthy forests in watersheds was a cost effective and appealing strategy to help ensure clean, abundant, supplies of water, and that continued dialogue and collaboration was essential. Since its establishment, TPFW meets regularly to coordinate activities and advance forest and water demonstration projects.
Partners
There are 45 partnering state and federal agencies, water utilities, corporations, local government, landowners, and conservation organizations within TPFW.
Structure
The Texas Partnership for Forests and Water has six working groups to function and be productive. Partners interested in joining a work group can email [email protected].
Partnership work group
Outreach: determine organizations, programs, and individuals who could benefit from or add value to the partnership.
Planning work group
Strategic Planning: Working on the partnerships bigger picture, outlining work plans to reach our common goals.
Communications work group
Design and create marketing materials, such as presentation slides for partners, and perform technical assistance for the partnership.
Research work group
Identify what research is relevant for partners and future partnership projects.
Project development work group
Develop proposals and on the ground projects.
Project implementation work group
Execute on the ground projects and approved proposals developed by the project development work group.
Resources
If you are interested in receiving the Texas Partnership for Forests and Water Newsletter, please contact [email protected] to be added to our email list.
Facilitated by Texan by Nature, the Texas Water Action Collaborative matches funders to projects. Over $4.6 million in funding has been facilitated since 2021, including over $1.4 million facilitated in 2023.
The Source Water Collaborative consists of 30 national organizations united to protect America’s drinking water at the source with the goal to combine the strengths and tools of a diverse set of member organizations to act now and protect drinking water sources for generations to come.
Keeping Forests work focuses on conserving the 245 million acres of remaining forests in the Southern U.S. by supporting private landowners, shedding light on why this land matters, and showing what you can do to help.
The Texas A&M Forest Service Funding Connector is a tool to find funding opportunities for a variety of natural resources projects offered by various organizations and agencies.
Partner success stories
Hill Country Headwaters Conservation Initiative
In 2018, Hill Country Conservancy and 18 partner organizations, including the Texas Hill Country Conservation Network, banded together to create the Hill Country Headwaters Conservation Initiative (HCHCI). HCHCI is focused on enhancing and protecting natural resources through partnerships with dedicated conservation-minded landowners. Now expanded to include 27 total partners (10 of which are TPFW Partners), HCHCI was granted the single-largest award ever for conservation easement funding in the Texas Hill Country, $20.8 million. This award was made by the Natural Resources Conservation Service as part of their Regional Conservation Partnership Program and is being distributed to purchase conservation easements across the region.
Wilson Creek Riparian Restoration Project
The Wilson Creek Riparian Restoration Project was a 9.5 acre tree-planting event completed in November of 2021. To promote flood mitigation and improve water quality, Texas A&M Forest Service, North Texas Municipal Water District, City of McKinney, McKinney Parks Foundation, and several other local stakeholders planted over 1,600 trees in the riparian areas along Wilson Creek, an impaired stream in Collin County. This newly established riparian forest buffer will stabilize the eroding stream banks and filter and trap unwanted pollutants that result from urban storm water runoff. The Wilson Creek Riparian Restoration project was funded through the Molson-Coors Change the Course Partnership, which connects Molson-Coors to shovel-ready projects that restore waterways critical to drinking water resources.