Center for Water Supply Studies

CWSS Research Objectives

The Center for Water Supply Studies is actively involved in conducting research relevant to addressing water supply issues in the Coastal Bend region of South Texas.

The Center for Water Supply Studies research is focused on:

Investigating barrier island stratigraphy, aquifer dynamics, and freshwater/saltwater interactions

Developing techniques for evaluating water contamination using proxies

Investigating sources of bacteria loading in surface water runoff and in ground water aquifers

Evaluating new water treatment technologies

Conducting geophysical studies to evaluate the stratigraphic and hydrogeological properties of aquifers

CWSS Research Projects

Magnetotelluric and conductivity imaging of the geometry of barrier island freshwater aquifers

Development of forward modelling algorithms for modelling vertical electrical soundings of magnetotelluric and conductivity geophysical data

Development of software to extract NEXRAD rainfall data for use in watershed models

Investigation of groundwater/surface water interaction in Oso Creek to track bacteria sources

Study of the use of fluorescent whitening agents as tracers in the investigation of domestic sewage contamination of surface waters

Investigation of the geometry of the freshwater/saltwater interface on barrier islands

Examination of the correlation of rainfall recharge with spring flow at Comal Springs

Development of a variable density flow model of freshwater lens dynamics on Padre Island to contrain the flux of nitrogen into the coastal zone of the Gulf of Mexico

CWSS Student Research Projects

Rob Schulz - Application of a Variable Density Flow Model to Model the Freshwater Lens Dynamics in Padre Island, Padre Island National Seashore (M.S. Thesis, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi)

Eric Seeger - Hydrologic Response of Comal Springs using NEXRAD Precipitation Data and Spring Flow

Susan Moczygemba - Investigation of bacteria loading in surface water runoff in the areas surrounding rural Priority Colonias

Mercedes Mata - Investigation of Domestic Sewage Contamination in Oso Creek using Fluorescent Whitening Agents from Detergents

Jay Marek - Geoelectromagnetic Investigation of Groundwater at Hazel Basemore Park, Corpus Christi, Texas

Felischa Cullens - Investigation of Uranium mine tailings and soil erosion

Shannon Parham - The Influence of Sand Fields on Shoreline Accretion at Bird Island Basin, Padre Island National Seashore

Katrina Simons - Geoelectromagnetic Investigation of Groundwater at Redhead Pond, Corpus Christi, Texas

Database and Maps

South Texas Groundwater Database Please contact us to access this database.

Texas Aquifer Constituent Maps

These maps are downloadable in "pdf" format and display concentrations of various aquifer components (arsenic, lead, etc...) throughout Texas. This is a work in progress and other maps will be added when completed. The file size is around 1.5 Mb.

Groundwater Aluminum Concentrations
Groundwater Arsenic Concentrations
Groundwater Lead Concentrations
Groundwater Selenium Concentrations
Groundwater Vanadium Concentrations

Nueces County Colonias Maps

These maps are downloadable in "pdf" format and display rural subdivisions and priority colonias in Nueces County. The file sizes range 1.5 to 5 Mb.

Priority Colonias of Nueces County Map
Map showing 150 mile line from the Texas-Mexico Border
Rural Subdivisions of Nueces County

Oso Creek Watershed Maps

These maps are downloadable in "pdf" format and display various features of the Oso Watershed. These maps were generated as part of various other projects. The file sizes range 1.5 to 5 Mb.

Satelite Image of Flooding in the Oso Watershed
Oso Basin Soils Reveal Ancient River Channels

Recent Presentations

Garrison, J. R., Jr., Henk, B., and Creel, R. (2007) Neoichnology of the Micro-tidal Gulf Coast of Texas: Implications for Paleoenvironmental and Paleoecological Interpretations of the Clastic Rocks of the Cretaceous Western Interior Basin, U.S.A: 2007 SEPM Research Conference: Ichnological Applications to Sedimentological and Sequence Stratigraphic Problems, Price, Utah, Sept 21-25, 2007.

Garrison, J. R., Jr., Henk, B., and Creel, R. (2007) Neoichnology of the Micro-tidal Gulf Coast of Texas: Implications for Paleoecological and Paleoenvironmental Interpretations of Ancient Micro-tidal Clastic Shoreline Systems, 2007 Annual GCAGS Meeting – Corpus Christi, Texas.

Mata, M. and Weber, E. T. (2007) Investigation of Domestic Sewage Contamination in Oso Creek using Fluorescent Whitening Agents as Detectors, Seventh Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, Corpus Christi.

Garrison, J. R., Jr. and McCoy, B. (2007) The Nueces Incised Valley Revisited: A Reinterpretation of the Sedimentology and Depositional Sequence Stratigraphy of Pleistocene and Holocene Sediments Preserved Within the Nueces Incised Valley, 2007 Annual GCAGS Meeting – Corpus Christi, Texas.

Garrison, J. R., Jr. and Smelley, S. (2007) Recovery of Infaunal Crustacean Colonies Following a Period of Rapid Sedimentation: A Neoichnological Examination Following Beach Rejuvenation and Storm-induced Sand Entrapment on the South Side of Packery Channel, North Padre Island, Texas, 2007 Annual GCAGS Meeting – Corpus Christi, Texas.

Weber. Egon T., Richard Hay, and James R. Garrison, Jr. (2007) Magnetotelluric investigation of a Pleistocene Nueces River Valley, Mustang Island, Texas, 2007 Annual GCAGS Meeting – Corpus Christi, Texas.

Hay R., Mott, J., Cambell, Z., and Carden, R. (2007) Role of Dry Weather Loading in Attaining Bacteria TMDL Goals for Oso Creek and Oso Bay Watershed, American Water Resource Association 2007 Annual Conference.

Smith-Engle, J., Hay, R. and Williams, D. (2007) Models for Beach Renourishment of a Back-Barrier Shoreline, Padre Island National Seashore, Texas, 2007 Annual GCAGS Meeting – Corpus Christi, Texas.

Simons, K., Hay, R., and Weber, E. T. (2007) Characterization of Ground Water Flow to a Bacteria Impaired Surface Water Body Using Heat as a Tracer, 2007 Annual GCAGS Meeting – Corpus Christi, Texas.

Mata, M. and Weber, E. T. (2008) Correlation of Microbiological Analysis of Fecal Bacteria using Fluorescent Whitening Agents as Detectors, Texas Academy of Science, 111th Annual Meeting, Corpus Christi.

Weber, Egon T., Robert Schulz, and James R. Garrison, Jr. (2008) Freshwater lens development on Padre Island, Texas, 2008 Salt Water Intrusion Meeting – Naples, Florida.

Garrison, James R. Jr., Amanda Baker, and Bo Henk (2008) Ichnology of Micro-tidal Incised-Valley Fill Deposits: A Comparison of the Ichnology of a Cretaceous Ferron Sandstone Incised Valley System, East-central Utah and the Neoichnology of the Pleistocene-Holocene Nueces River Incised Valley, Texas Gulf Coast, 2008 Annual GCAGS/GSA Meeting – Houston, Texas.

Garrison, James R. Jr., Egon T. Weber, II, Sara Potter Miller, George McMechan, and Xiaoxian Zeng (2008) Ground-penetrating Radar Study of North Padre Island, Texas: Implications for Barrier Island Growth and Internal Architecture, 2008 Annual GCAGS/GSA Meeting – Houston, Texas.

Schulz, Robert, Egon T. Weber, and James R. Garrison, Jr. (2008) Stratigraphically Controlled Freshwater Lens Development in a Barrier Island, Padre Island, Texas, 2008 Annual GCAGS/GSA Meeting – Houston, Texas.

Weber, Egon T., II, James R. Garrison, Jr., Joshua Williams, and Justin Polasek (2009) Topographic control on barrier island freshwater lenses, Mustang Island, Texas, 2009 South-central Section GSA Meeting – Dallas, Texas.

Recent Publications

Egon T. Weber, II and Denny, Diane (2009) 1-D inversion of magnetotelluric vertical electrical sounding curves: Defining coastal aquifers with freshwater-saltwater transition zones: Journal of Applied Geophysics (in press).

James R. Garrison, Jr., Egon T. Weber, II, Sara Potter Miller, George McMechan and Xiaoxian Zeng (2009) Ground-penetrating Radar study of North Padre Island, Texas: Implications for barrier island internal architecture, models of micro-tidal barrier island growth, and Gulf of Mexico sea-level cyclicity: Journal of Sedimentary Research (in press).