Texas State Meadows Center receives $500K for water contamination, climate change

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- On Tuesday, state and community leaders presented the Texas State University Meadows Center with a $500,000 check to help fight water contamination on the Texas coast.

The City of San Marcos applied for community project funding via a federal grant in 2023. This investment will give the research center resources to develop an iTool, which will immediately inform beachgoers on whether the water is safe to swim in.

"Coastal resilience is really important, because our world is changing. We're growing in population, we're seeing sea levels change, we're seeing more wastewater going into water waste. That's making our beaches less friendly for recreation," Texas State University Executive Director of The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment Dr. Robert Mace told KXAN.

If the levels of fecal coliform are too high in the water, he said it can make people sick.

"It becomes a potential health issue," Mace said.

According to Environment America, 90% of Texas beaches had at least one day of unsafe fecal contamination in 2022. That is higher than the national average of 55% that year.

Congressman Greg Casar spoke with KXAN Tuesday and joined community leaders to present the check.

"I grew up in Texas loving to go get in the water," he said. "Unfortunately, in recent years, we're seeing more and more beaches have to close, because they're too dangerous for people to swim in them. We're seeing more days where you could get sick swimming in that water. We need to get rid of that. We need to make sure that our Texas beaches are clean -- both on the coast and in the water -- and that's why we're supporting this project. Because we want everyday Texans to feel safe for them to go get in clean water and cool off."

In addition to researching water contamination, the center is also looking at water resources across the state and looking at environmental aspects, Mace said.