The Texas Water Development Board is poised to approve nearly $4 billion in financing for dozens of projects to increase water supplies across the state, and a handful to promote conservation. But even environmental groups are praising the board for embracing every conservation project that sought state help, which they hope will inspire even more local water utilities to dip into a new pool of state money for water-related projects.
From pipelines to a seawater desalination plant feasibility study, the agency's staff is asking the board to approve financing for 32 water-related projects Thursday, doling out $1 billion within the next year and another $2.9 billion over the next decade. Cities as small as Marfa and as large as Houston are on the list, and several entities are slated to receive help with multiple projects.
The plans will be the first round of many that receive money from the revolving water fund Texas voters overwhelmingly approved in 2013 with the passage of Proposition 6 — when half the state was in drought. Awards likely will be made annually, according to water board staff.
Bech Bruun, the newly appointed board chairman, said the initial wave of projects — if approved — would be “a big step” toward leveraging the $2 billion the board received into $27 billion of low-interest loans and other financing over the next 50 years to implement the state water plan, a blueprint that spans half a century.The Texas Water Development Board is poised to approve nearly $4 billion in financing for dozens of projects to increase water supplies across the state, and a handful to promote conservation.
But even environmental groups are praising the board for embracing every conservation project that sought state help, which they hope will inspire even more local water utilities to dip into a new pool of state money for water-related projects.