Schreiner University will host the fourth and final in this year’s series of symposia and forums about water use in Texas at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 6, in the Floyd & Kathleen Cailloux Campus Activity Center on the Schreiner campus. The series is a joint project of Schreiner, Texas Tech University at Fredericksburg and Texas Public Radio to help alert the public to water conservation and water use issues in the state. The March 6 topic will be “Policy, Planning and Politics: Where Do We Go From Here?”

The panel of experts will include Myron Hess, legal counsel and director of Texas water programs for the National Wildlife Federation’s Gulf States Natural Resource Center in Austin, Laura Marbury, senior water analyst for the Texas office of the Environmental Defense Land Water & Wildlife Program, recently retired Texas state representative Robert Richard Puente and State Senator Kip Averitt.

Hess has a degree in wildlife and fisheries science from Texas A&M University and a law degree from The University of Texas.  For more than 20 years, his law practice has mainly been concentrated in the areas of water quality and availability, and endangered species in Texas. He also has been an environmental attorney for Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Marbury’s work with the Environmental Defense organization is with issues of long-term groundwater protection and rural Texas water resources. Her work includes outreach and education in such areas as sustainable groundwater management and conservation and she participates in the state’s regional water planning. She has a bachelor’s degree in geology from The University of Texas and a master’s degree in applied geography from Southwest Texas State University. She has been an agroforestry research associate for the Texas Center for Policy studies, served in The Peace Corps and a hydrogeologist for Parsons Engineering.

Puente was a member of the Texas House of Representatives for more than 15 years, before resigning in February. He chaired the House Natural Resources Committee and was a member of the Texas Water Advisory Council. He was instrumental in forming legislation to protect the Edwards Aquifer, as well as legislation implementing a comprehensive water plan for Texas.

Averitt is chairman of the powerful Senate Committee on Natural Resources. His legislative experience and in-depth understanding of complex issues have repeatedly won the respect and recognition of his senate colleagues and the legislative leadership. Averitt is one of only three senators who serve on the Texas Water Advisory Council. In November of 2003, he was appointed to the Senate Select Committee on Water Policy and is chairman of the Environmental Flows Advisory Group and co-chairs the Joint Committee on Oversight of Edwards Aquifer.

This event is free and open to the public. All of the water forums are taped and aired on Texas Public Radio.

For more information, check www.schreiner.edu/water or contact Bob Hickerson or Dr. Tom Arsuffi at 325-446-2301, bob.hickerson@ttu.edu or tom.arsuffi@ttu.edu; or Dr. Mike Looney at Schreiner University, 830-792-7371 or mlooney@schreiner.edu.