Hess Corp. has invested in the expansion of the Texas Water Action Collaborative (TxWAC) to the entire Trinity River Basin, according to a March 21 company release.

Launched in March 2021, TxWAC was developed to match companies and funders with conservation projects to positively benefit Texas’ water resources.

The Trinity Basin is the largest river basin whose water-shed area is entirely within the State of Texas and the third largest river in Texas by average flow volume, according to the Texas Water Development Board. TxWAC was piloted in the Upper Trinity River Basin and with Hess Corp.’s support, this model is expanding to the Lower Trinity River Basin in the first half of 2022.

“Clean, healthy waterways are important to the state of Texas, as well as the Gulf of Mexico,” Brock Hajdik, vice president for Gulf of Mexico at Hess, said in the release.

Based in New York, Hess is a global independent energy company engaged in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas. In addition to a large position in the Bakken shale play, the company is one of the largest producers in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico and also engaged in exploration and appraisal activities offshore Guyana.

Hess’ investment in TxWAC is foundational in bringing funding and partners to conservation projects along the Trinity to provide benefits for water volume, water quality, air quality and biodiversity, according to the company release.

Texan by Nature (TxN) leads TxWAC and will facilitate the expansion. Plans are also underway to expand TxWAC to another river basin in Texas by 2023.

“This partnership with Texan by Nature on the TxWAC project is a great addition to the other water programs Hess is involved in and aligns with the commitment Hess has to clean water and addressing marine debris,” Hajdik added. “We are excited to see the opportunities this brings forward.”

TxWAC began successfully matching projects to funding in the Upper Trinity in October 2021 when PepsiCo and Facebook funded a Ducks Unlimited wetland project as a result of the TxWAC process. Texan by Nature facilitates this process through initiative leadership, survey data, matching methodology and partnership development.

“TxWAC is quickly becoming a premier example of collaborative conservation. We’re proud to act as the trusted broker and accelerate the rate at which conservation projects are funded. and replicated along Texas river systems. Hess Corporation’s leadership in funding this expansion is a catalyst for the multiplicative impact TxWAC will achieve,” Joni Carswell, CEO  and president of Texan by Nature, commented in the release.

The goals of TxWAC expansion are to:

  • Benefit the quality and volume of water of the Trinity River;
  • Spread awareness and education regarding the need for water conservation and projects that have succeeded;
  • Build collaborative relationships to align goals, metrics, and timelines between conservation organizations, corporate entities, and communities;
  • Provide a matching methodology for funding, activity, measurement, and reporting of water conservation projects; and
  • Build a replicable model for all Texas river systems.

Future plans for the Texas Water Action Collaborative include expansion and replication, scoping high impact and high return water projects for Texas, developing software to manage and visualize data as the collaborative grows, and reporting the results of successfully funded projects through TxWAC.

Texan by Nature’s efforts to convene and accelerate statewide initiatives such as TxWAC are made possible due to the support from partners that are dedicated to conservation, like Hess Corp. Additional support of the Texas Water Action Collaborative is provided by Lyda Hill Philanthropies, Molson Coors Beverage Co., Coca-Cola Co. and Tarrant Regional Water District.