In Brief: Meadows Center's Thomas Hardy publishes ‘Texas Riparian Areas’

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
University News Service
September 15, 2015

Thomas B.  Hardy, professor of biology and chief science officer at The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University, has published a new book, Texas Riparian Areas.

The book is published by Texas A&M University Press and co-edited by Nicole A. Davis, a graduate research assistant at The Meadows Center and a Ph.D. candidate in aquatic resources.

Texas Riparian Areas evolved from a report commissioned by the Texas Water Development Board as Texas faced the reality of over-allocated water resources and long-term -- if not permanent -- drought conditions. Its purpose was to summarize the characteristics of riparian areas and to develop a common vocabulary for discussing, studying, and managing them.

Riparian areas — transitional zones between the aquatic environments of streams, rivers and lakes and the terrestrial environments on and alongside their banks — are special places. They provide almost 200,000 miles of connections through which the waters of Texas flow. Keeping the water flowing, in as natural a way as possible, is key to the careful and wise management of the state’s water resources.