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State Water Projects | |
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In years past, when a local area needed new water supplies, a local delegation went to Washington, D.C., and enlisted the support of the local congressional delegation to prevail upon the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to construct a new dam, funding for which would come in large part from the federal government. In recent years, federal funds for new water projects have dried up, the cost of water projects has escalated, in many cases beyond local means. Planning, design and construction periods have lengthened to multiple decades. So, Texas cities and counties now look to the State for some new means of paying for the huge and growing water infrastructure needs of Texas.
Dozens of new dams were constructed in the 1960's and 1970's, with federal assistance, after the record drought of the 1950's. The State Water Plan now calls for as many as 26 new reservoirs to provide water for the projected 46 million Texans in 2060 - nearly double the current population. The estimated price tag is $53 billion.
Legislative action
In 1997, Senate Bill 1 created the new decentralized, regional water planning process. It also addressed state funding of water infrastructure projects, but no consensus was reached on the funding portion of that bill, so it was not included in the final version. In 2001, Senate Bill 2 identified possible sources of tax dollars to provide a dedicated money stream for water projects. SB2 again included a water project appropriation, but the funding portion of SB2 was again defeated.
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