181 Community Engaged Research for Environmental Sustainability and Community Resilience (Posters)

We welcome trans-disciplinary submissions with a strong focus on community engagement in research development or implementation, especially research addressing issues of sustainability in water, air quality, land use, energy, climate change, and environmental justice.

Tuesday, 21 October 2025
8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
HBGCC, Hall 1

The Effects of Ecotourism on Groundwater Resources in Brewster County, Texas

Paper number: 181-3
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:00 AM – 8:00 AM

Authors

Abstract

Brewster County, located in far west Texas, is culturally and geologically complex with diverse habitats and attractions, featuring the towns of Alpine, Marathon, Terlingua, and Lajitas, as well as the Rio Grande and the Big Bend National and Big Bend Ranch State parks in the southern region of the county. Located within the Chihuahuan Desert, Brewster County receives ~ 17 inches of precipitation annually. All public and private water supplies are sourced from the "igneous" aquifer and an unnamed Cretaceous aquifer. Via the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) and the county's Groundwater Conservation District (GCD), enabled by the Texas Water Code Chapter 36, Brewster County is able to monitor and regulate its groundwater use.

 

With the rise in tourism in the county in recent years, there has been concern regarding long-term groundwater sustainability and availability. The population of the county is not projected to increase, but there is an evident increase in transient water users, presumably increasing transient groundwater consumption. Our research aims to estimate this increase in groundwater use through the Residential Gallons Per Capita Per Day equation developed by the TWDB, Texas Commission of Environmental Quality, and the Water Conservation Advisory Council. Using eCognition Object-Based Image Analysis and change-detection algorithms, we intend to conduct a longitudinal study to monitor the development of short-term rental properties in Terlingua and Lajitas. A qualitative study will also be conducted to gain insight into the local communities' perspective on groundwater use in the region. All these components will provide the Brewster County GCD with essential information about the unmeasured increase in transient groundwater use.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 57, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-413536

© Copyright 2025 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.