As water resources continue to be threatened across Texas, the Senate has approved a bill dedicated to addressing and preventing a long-term water supply crisis looming over the state.
Senate Bill 7 is one of a package of related bills designed to create new water resources to meet the state’s growing needs. The bill will now move into the Texas House of Representatives, where it will be debated.
One of the bill’s standout components is the creation of an office dedicated to coordinating water conveyance projects and planning. The board’s responsibilities would include:
- Developing infrastructure to transport water.
- Facilitating planning and coordination between all entities participating in relevant projects.
- Creating guidance and best practices for standardizing specifications, materials and components in water conveyance projects.
- Developing standards and guidance to support interconnectivity and interoperability between different systems created to transport water from different projects. The agency is also authorized to take additional necessary actions to accomplish these goals.
- Streamline the creation of mechanical and technical standards for integrating water made available through water conveyance infrastructure and projects.
Projects approved through the commission would draw from the state’s Water Fund, which was created Nov. 7, 2023, with an initial $1 billion appropriation. SB 7 is currently moving through the Legislature alongside a companion constitutional amendment—House Joint Resolution 7—that would inject $1 billion into the Texas Water Fund for up to a decade. The funding pool would ensure municipalities and local water agencies could sustain, implement and build critical water projects.
The creation of new water sources would be a pivotal aspect of the bill’s passage, providing necessary financial support to address water needs through feasible, novel methodologies. These strategies center around producing:
- Desalination projects, including in marine and brackish water.
- Produced water treatment projects.
- Aquifer storage and recovery projects.
- Shovel-ready reservoir projects.
- Water infrastructure to transport or integrate surface water or water from outside the state into water supply systems.
According to the 2022 State Water Plan, Texas is projected to experience up to an 18% decline in water availability in the coming years. SB 7 would play an essential role in preventing sudden drops in water resources.
Photo by Jakob Schlothane
