Water for Fish, Wildlife and Recreation

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The Department’s role in protecting fish and wildlife resources will become increasingly important as the demand for water increases and water availability decreases statewide. It has regulatory responsibility for recreational fishing in Texas’ waters and regulates commercial fishing along the Gulf coast. It is also designated as the state trustee for aquatic resources, but has no regulatory authority to ensure water quality and quantity for fish, wildlife and recreational resources. TPWD’s key role in water is to provide accurate scientific data on the water needs of fish and wildlife.

The Department focuses on maintaining and restoring sustainable aquatic life and maintaining fishable and swimmable designations in the state’s waterways. An important component of this work is integration of data on aquatic communities, on physical, chemical and habitat parameters and on adjacent land uses. TPWD works with regional and state water planning stakeholders and works closely with regulatory agencies in an advisory capacity to protect and enhance water quality and to assure adequate instream flows for rivers and freshwater inflows for bays and estuaries. It is critical that the Department be successful in its efforts to conserve adequate water for fish and wildlife in order to reduce future economic and quality of life costs to governments, industries and citizens.