CREST Center for Sustainable Water Use (CREST-SWU)

科学和技术卓越研究中心方案通过建立有效整合教育和研究的中心，为加强少数群体服务机构的研究能力提供支持。在国家科学基金会的支持下，德克萨斯农工大学金斯维尔分校将建立“可持续水资源利用中心”。该中心将参与区域多学科研究、教育和利益攸关方合作，以促进在复杂的自然、水文气候、监管和社会经济背景下对南得克萨斯州可持续用水的理解。该中心的调查人员将推动开发和评估水的可获得性和质量监测网络、模型和管理工具，以促进南得克萨斯州和类似的半干旱地区的可持续用水。可持续用水中心将实施三个子项目中阐述的研究、教育和推广计划。监测和信息系统分项目将编制区域可用水、质量和需求的全面清单。建模和动态预测分项目将侧重于区域可用水和水质模型，描述开发和整合这些模型所需的元数据。决策支持系统分项目将评估和传播决策支持工具，以帮助区域利益攸关方和政策制定者确定替代水管理战略的长期效力。德克萨斯农工大学金斯维尔分校是一所为拉美裔服务的机构，位于德克萨斯州南部，位于三个区域水规划区的中心。研究区是竞争压力的典型缩影，水资源有限，依赖灌溉的农业，水密集型能源生产，敏感的沿海海洋生物栖息地，人口快速增长和城市化，两国争夺水资源分配，以及频繁的干旱。虽然中心的活动侧重于区域，但它满足了全球对评估长期水可持续性的综合工具和战略的需求。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology program provides support to enhance the research capabilities of minority-serving institutions through the establishment of centers that effectively integrate education and research. With National Science Foundation support, Texas A&M University-Kingsville will establish the "Center for Sustainable Water Use". This Center will engage in regional multidisciplinary research, education and stakeholder collaborations to advance the understanding of sustainable water use in South Texas in the context of complex physical, hydroclimatic, regulatory and social-economical settings. Center investigators will stimulate the development and assessment of water availability and quality monitoring networks, models, and management tools that will promote sustainable water use in South Texas and similar semi-arid regions.The Center for Sustainable Water Use will implement a research, education and outreach program articulated in three subprojects. The Monitoring and Information Systems subproject will develop comprehensive inventories of regional water availability, quality and demand. The Modeling and Dynamic Forecasting subproject will focus on regional water availability and quality models, delineating metadata needed to develop and integrate these models. The Decision Support Systems subproject will assess and disseminate decision-support tools to help regional stakeholders and policymakers determine the long-term efficacy of alternative water management strategies. Texas A&M University-Kingsville is a Hispanic-serving institution located in South Texas, at the center of the three regional Water Planning Areas. The study area is a representative microcosm for competing pressures, with limited water resources, irrigation-dependent agriculture, water-intensive energy production, sensitive coastal marine habitat, rapid population growth and urbanization, binational competition for water allocations, and frequent drought. Although regionally focused, Center activities address a global need for integrated tools and strategies for assessing long-term water sustainability.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.