Guides: Researching Lubbock: Land, Environment, and Agriculture

Researching Lubbock Land, Environmental, and Agricultural Issues

On this page you can learn more about researching:

Lubbock Parks and Nature

Lubbock Lake Landmark
Lubbock Park List with Amenities
Lubbock Parks GIS
Lubbock Memorial Arboretum
Parks Near Lubbock-Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Prairie Dog Town
TTU Libraries resources for Lubbock Parks
Search the catalog or Parks--Texas--Lubbock
Plant Resource Database
"The Texas Tech University Plant Resource Database serves as a reference for selecting, identifying, and learning about plants that are well-suited or commonly grown in the West Texas Panhandle."
Lubbock County Wildlife Management
Texas Wildlife Identification Guide

West Texas Landscape and Agriculture

Climate Data

West Texas Mesonet
Includes weather data, agricultural data, radar imaging, data plots, wind roses, SODAR maps, rainfall plots, and lighting array
Wind Resource Data, Tools, and Maps- National Renewable Energy Laboratory
wind geospatial data, wind resources maps and data for North America, and Wind Supply Curves
Climate Data Online - NOAA
"data include quality controlled daily, monthly, seasonal, and yearly measurements of temperature, precipitation, wind, and degree days as well as radar data and 30-year Climate Normal"

Water Data

Lubbock Area Reservoirs
Recent and Historical data of Monitored Water Supply Reservoirs
Drought Conditions for Lubbock County -Drought.gov
Current, historical, and projected drought for Lubbock County and impacts on Agriculture
Geography of the Ogallala Aquifer in Texas
"purpose of this map series is to explore the geography of the Ogallala Aquifer in Texas. The main object is to better understand the charecteristics of the aquifer itself and the relationship between the acquifer and the agricultural landscape"

Soil and Agriculture Data

USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service Texas Field Office
Statistics on Crops and other Agricultural commodities
Web Soil Survey
Search current soil data by location
Historic Soil Surveys -USDA
Conservation Effects Assessment Project- USDA
quantifies and reports on trends in conservation practices, and associated outcomes, over time
Texas AgriLife Research- Lubbock Office
economic and environmental sustainability improvement in Texas Southern High Plains
agriculture production systems through innovative research and education programs
Census of Agriculture- County-level Texas
2022 Census Volume 1, Chapter 2: County Level Data
FiberMax Center for Discovery- Agriculture

Lubbock Environmental Issues

EPA-My Environment Lubbock
Shows Air Quality Index, Surface Water, Energy Topic Air Pollutants, and Climate information
EPA Data
Envirofacts for facility information, including toxic chemical releases, water discharge permit compliance, hazardous waste handling processes, Superfund status and air emission estimates.
EnviroAtlas for geospatial data, easy-to-use tools, and other resources related to ecosystem services, their stressors and human health
EPA's Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool
* This website is not available by Executive Order on January 2025.
Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool
* This website is not available by Executive Order on January 2025.
Data and Records on Water and Air Quality and Waste Management
Public water systems, wells, air pollution, weather measurements, hazardous and solid water
Maps and Geographic Data - Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
View groundwater assessments, industrial and hazardous waste, solid waste, petroleum storage tank, source and surface water, and water districts
Post, Jason M., Perry L. Carter, and Cynthia L. Sorrensen. "Spatial environmental inequality in Lubbock, Texas." Current Res. J. Soc. Sci. & Human. 1 (2018): 1.
National Pipeline Mapping System (NPMS) Public Viewer
view NPMS pipeline, liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant and breakout tank data including gas transmission and hazardous liquid pipeline accidents and incidents.
Wind Erosion and Water Conservation Research, Lubbock TX
focuses on applied and fundamental research regarding the effects of wind-induced soil erosion, interactions between plants and soil environments and much more.