Blue Hole on Frio River at H.E. Butt Foundation Camp  Chase Fountain / TPWD

The Wonder of Water

We bathe in it, play in it, fish in it and nourish our bodies with it. But water’s not just a resource — it’s a feeling. Something about water draws us in, with a force as irresistible as the moon’s pull on the tides. Many of us can attest to water’s power to reduce stress and bring joy, and now science backs up our instinctive feeling that being next to water makes us healthier and happier. With profound effects on health, creativity, empathy and emotion, water is a shortcut to happiness.

Water resources are precious and precarious, and most assuredly finite. Conservation is neither a luxury nor a privilege, but rather a promise that we cannot afford to ignore. We all play roles, big and small, in this undertaking. Ultimately, our actions will forever define us as stewards of the springs, creeks, rivers, lakes, bays and Gulf waters that sustain us all.

— Carter Smith, TPWD executive director —

Gorman Falls at Colorado Bend State Park  Earl Nottingham / TPWD

I don't have any regrets, because I think life is like a creek. It kind of meanders along, and you instinctively do the things you are meant to do.

— Sissy Spacek, Texas actress —

Clear Creek at Parrie Haynes Ranch  Earl Nottingham / TPWD

Devils River at Devils River state natural area  Chase Fountain / TPWD

Rio Grande at rio grande village, big bend national park  Earl Nottingham / TPWD

Even the weariest river winds somewhere safe to sea.

— James A. Michener, author of "Texas" —

Frio River by moonlight at Garner state park  Earl Nottingham / TPWD

Pond on J.D. Murphree wildlife management area  Chase Fountain / TPWD

The frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives.

— Native American saying —

Sunrise over Matagorda Bay, near the mouth of the Colorado River  Chase Fountain / TPWD

The South Coast of Texas, that's a thin slice of life. It's salty and hard, it is stern as a knife. Where the wind is for blowin' up, hurricanes for showin' snakes how to swim and trees how to lean.

— Guy Clark, Texas songwriter —

Gulf of Mexico at Sabine Pass  Lee Smith / TPWD