Texas the State of Flowing Water Video Documentary To Air Feb. 12

Tom Harvey, 512-389-4453, tom.harvey@tpwd.texas.gov

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AUSTIN, Texas — The one-hour video documentary Texas the State of Flowing Water will air at 8 p.m. central time, Thursday, Feb. 12 on all Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) stations in Texas. It is the fourth in an award-winning series of water resource documentaries produced by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and broadcast in partnership with PBS stations.

Texas the State of Flowing Water examines water resource threats facing Texas and looks at what people can do to protect the state’s most precious natural resource. The documentary features images of rivers, springs, bays and estuaries, plus interviews with a wide array of experts, stakeholders and policy makers.

The documentary is made possible in part by a grant from the federal Sport Fish Restoration Program, which funds nearly $18 million in Texas conservation efforts each year from boater and angler purchases of fishing equipment and motorboat fuels. It is part of a multi-year TPWD communication initiative called "Texas: The State Of Water," supported this year with additional sponsor funding from the San Antonio River Authority, Brazos River Authority, the Texas Water Foundation and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation.

The program explores human use of rivers and water resources in several ways, including the trend of off-channel storage reservoirs to meet future water demands. Impacts to the natural flow of rivers will be examined, including a profile of the Fastrill Reservoir project, which is proposed for the same area where a new national wildlife refuge is being created on the Neches River. It will look at recent legislation designed to determine the amounts of fresh water that should reach the coast to maintain healthy bays.

Climate change is a new topic explored in this latest TPWD documentary, which looks at how changing conditions could alter the ecology of Texas. It will also examine the importance of keeping Texas rivers flowing into coastal estuaries and bays. It will look at how increasing municipal demand has elevated the importance of water conservation measures. It explores the link between creek beds and aquifer recharge. It shows how more Texans are gaining an appreciation of our rivers and bays through the ever increasing number of designated paddling trails.

The documentary includes a brief look at the trend of green building and how simple steps people can take can collectively do a lot to diminish future water shortages.

The one-hour TV program is part of a broader TPWD public information initiative begun with a special water resource issue of Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine in July 2002. The initiative also includes radio, Internet and other components.

A companion website, Texas The State Of Water, features a preview of the documentary, links to additional information, and after the show airs, the complete program presented via streaming video and a complete written transcript.

PHOTOS for news media use showing Producer Lee Smith shooting video on the Neches River near the proposed Fastrill Reservoir location, river scientists sampling fish as part of instream flow studies, plus various images of Texas rivers and bays and people boating and swimming, are available as high resolution .jpg files on the State of Flowing Water news images download group on the TPWD Web site.

PBS TV stations based in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Lubbock, Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Midland-Odessa, Harlingen, Killeen, Waco and Austin will air the documentary Feb. 12. Below is a listing of stations showing most cities they serve. See local listings for station cable and broadcast channel numbers.

  • KERA: Abilene, Dallas, Denton, Fort Worth, Longview, Lufkin, Marshall, Nacogdoches, Paris, San Angelo, Sherman, Tyler, Wichita Falls
  • KUHT: Beaumont, Galveston, Houston, Port Arthur, Texas City, Victoria
  • KLRN: Kerrville, Laredo, San Antonio
  • KMBH: Brownsville, Harlingen, McAllen, Mission
  • KWBU: Waco
  • KPFT: Midland, Odessa
  • KNCT: Killeen, Temple
  • KCOS: El Paso
  • KTXT: Lubbock
  • KACV: Amarillo
  • KLRU: Austin
  • KEDT: Corpus Christi
  • KAMU: Bryan, College Station

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