$4 Billion Texas Water Fund

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$4 Billion Texas Water Fund

Texas water fund begins supplying billions of dollars

The fund, called the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas, or SWIFT, got its first takers Thursday with almost $4 billion in approvals.

“I felt the inaugural round of SWIFT so far has been a huge success,” said Texas Water Development Board Chairman Bech Bruun, a Corpus Christi native, after the meeting.

The board helps fund water projects and researches water matters in Texas.

Although the U.S. Drought Monitor shows no drought in Texas, West Texas lakes are still low. The O.H. Ivie Reservoir, for instance, is at 17 percent capacity.

The Colorado River Municipal Water District is in charge of the water supplies to lakes in San Angelo, Abilene and Midland.

“Whether we are in times of drought or times of plenty ... the planning is what we’ll be tied to,” Bruun said.

The fund’s money came from voter approval in 2013, when half the state was in a drought and Texas was still reeling from 2011, the driest year in Texas’ recorded history.

The $2 billion is what lawmakers and officials believed was needed to fund the 2012 State Water Plan for 50 years. The plan states Texas will need $53 billion in projects such as pipelines and reservoirs to withstand heavy drought. The state would need to provide about $27 billion, lending the $2 billion and having communities pay it back at state-subsidized rates.

The state plan identifies hundreds of water projects, which can include reservoirs, pipelines to aquifers and desalination plants.

On Thursday, the water board approved the requests of 21 groups that applied for about $1 billion in projects for the first year and about $3.9 billion over the next decade.

The projects include water purification plant expansions and transmission pipelines for the city of Houston, new water wells for the city of Tom Bean and the city of Marfa, and a desalination plant and water wells for the Brazosport Water Authority in Brazoria County.

“We’ve got the technology, we’ve got the funding, but it’s up to the local communities ... to make it a reality,” said Kathleen Jackson, one of the three board members who approved items Thursday.

Earlier this year, the board received 48 applications totaling $5.5 billion. One of the projects not approved in the initial applications was from San Angelo. It sought $150 million to treat and reuse wastewater. According to water board staff, the project hadn’t been included in the 2012 water plan.

Source: StandardTimes

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