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Thankfully, due to the bottom-up approach
we use in Texas that allows for regional water
planning groups to plan for water at the local
level first, impactful water infrastructure
projects and strategies have been identified
that will allow every region of Texas to
continue to prosper for the next 50 years.
In the 2012 StateWater Plan, the capital cost of
these projects and strategies totaled $53 billion.
From that total, the regional water planning
groups were able to estimate the portion of the
cost the state would need to fund to get these
water projects off the ground.
After the drought of 2011 went down in
recorded history as the single driest year
in Texas, Texas legislators and citizens alike
united in a demand for a significant change
to our water infrastructure.
As a result, legislation calling for a one-time
$2 billion investment from the state’s Rainy
Day Fund to finance water projects in the
state water planwas passed and later approved
by an overwhelming majority of Texas
voters in 2013 (voters will remember this as
Proposition 6). That legislation facilitated the
creation of the State Water Implementation
Fund for Texas, or SWIFT, which is expected
to finance at least $800 million in statewide
water projects each year for the next 10 years.
This loan program can serve as an effective
tool for fast-tracking water projects.
Although the TWDB has provided more
than $15 billion in financial assistance for
water projects across the state since its
inception, our goal is to be as proactive as
possible in assisting with the development
of smart, efficient, and innovative water
solutions. While conservation will always be
the most important and cost-effective water-
saving effort in Texas, new technologies
can also help optimize efficiencies and
create value. Seawater and brackish water
desalination, aquifer storage and recovery,
and direct potable reuse are all on the table.
These innovative technologies are now
realistic opportunities thanks to SWIFT,
which we anticipate will fund almost $27
billion in financing for state water plan
projects over the next 50 years.
Texas has been at the forefront of economic
development by focusing on initiatives that
promote a business-friendly climate. During
the height of the recession, the Texas labor
force grew by 40 percent more than any
other state’s. People move to Texas for good-
paying jobs and they stay for the quality of
life. If we want to maintain this trend, we
must continue to act and take the future of
our water supply into account.
Texans tend to think on a larger-than-average
scale. Our ideas, just like our state, are often
bigger and more far-reaching than the rest.
We take pride in our accomplishments
and our can-do spirit, and that sometimes
makes us vulnerable to the things we cannot
change. In Texas, we cannot make it rain.
But in its absence, we can and will plan for
times of drought.
Every industry needs water now and in the
future. It’s up to our local community leaders
to take part in the water planning process.
We encourage CEOs and business executives
to take a seat at the table and engage with us
in the regional water planning process. Your
input is needed so that the planning process
for Texas’ most precious resource reflects
our state’s business needs, as well as those of
the other economic sectors.
There is no issue more important than water
in Texas. We must develop it ourselves, and
sustain it for future Texans. We need water
for generations to come, for our children
and our children’s children. Please join us
in our efforts to invest in the future with
water for Texas.
Kathleen Jackson is a Board Member of the
Texas Water Development Board. She is an
engineer based in Beaumont and has served
as a past member of the Lower Neches Valley
Authority Board of Directors, the Texas Water
Conservation Association, and participated on
the Sabine and Neches Rivers Bay and Estuary
Environmental Flows Assessment Program
Stakeholders Committee.
This article first appeared in the March|April
2015 issue of Texas CEO magazine and is
reprinted with permission.
1 acre-foot volume
1 acre-foot =
325,851 gallons of water
1 foot
272 feet
300 feet
160 feet
160 feet
What is an acre-foot?
