The Texas Water Observatory (TWO - two.tamu.edu) is a distributed network of field observatories in Brazos River corridor and was developed to better understand hydrologic flow across natural and manmade reservoirs in the critical zone. The network monitors and measures groundwater, soil water, surface water, and atmospheric water at multiple locations across space and through time. Using advanced observational platforms and near real time sensors, this observatory monitors high frequency data of water stores and fluxes, critical for understanding and modeling water resources and their sustainability in the state of Texas and Southern USA. TWO is positioned to support high-impact water science that is beyond the existing capabilities at Texas A&M University and is highly relevant to societal needs. TWO is a regional resource for better understanding and managing agriculture, water resources, ecosystems, biodiversity, disasters, health, energy, and weather/climate. TWO infrastructure spans land uses (cultivation agriculture, range/pasture, forest), landforms (low-relief erosional uplands to depositional lowlands), and across climatic and geological gradients of Texas to investigate the sensitivity and resilience of fertile soils and the ecosystems they support. TWO facilitates a new generation of interdisciplinary water professionals, from various TAMU Colleges, that are better positioned for attending to future water challenges of the region.