SUSTAINABLE FRESHWATER RESOURCES are a foundation for human survival and economic development, and for maintaining life-supporting aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. However, inadequate understanding of aquatic resources and a prevailing inability to properly integrate scientific, technical, and socioeconomic elements continues to seriously hinder the achievement of sustainable aquatic resources, not only in Texas, but also across the nation and around the world. Its scarcity threatens global food supplies and the state of human health in many regions of the world.