by Jim Malewitz | April 9, 2015

With a third of Texans still facing drought conditions, a coalition of Texas universities and water providers has launched an $8 million effort to curb water use in cities.

The University Municipal Water Consortium – a team of more than 25 local, state and regional water providers and researchers from Texas A&M University, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas at San Antonio – seeks to develop new ways to conserve water and chart use in hundreds of homes across the state.

Blue DualPecan Street Inc., an Austin-based research and development nonprofit, unveiled the project this week.

“Growing populations and drought are threatening water supplies from California to Florida,” Brewster McCracken, the nonprofit’s CEO, said in a statement. “Our members have joined together to develop and test promising hardware and software solutions so we can ensure that utilities, communities and customers have access to data-driven information and cost-effective innovations.”

Read the whole story at the Texas Tribune.