Amid concerns of skyrocketing water costs, the Texas Water Development Board unanimously approved the 2026 Regional Water Plans during Thursday’s meeting.
Regional water districts are required by state law to plan resources and projects until 2080, then submit the plans to the board for approval every five years. The plans include the projected population, existing water supplies, water demands, identified water needs, water management strategy supplies, unmet needs, and summaries of recommended water management strategies and projects.
Board member Ashley Morgan asked the presenter of the agenda item, Sara Lee, senior advisor of the Water Supply Planning Division for the TWDB, if the board has the authority to change anything about the plans. Lee said that according to state law, no.
Morgan highlighted that costs were once in the millions, but now they’re in the billions. She mentioned that one of the planned projects is estimated to cost $9.8 billion.
“9.8 billion dollars is not a little bit of money,” Morgan said. “That is a lot of money.”
Morgan then encouraged citizens to attend the regional meetings and emphasized the importance of open records.
“All of these meetings are subject to open records and open meetings and all those wonderful things that we need to have in place for good transparent government,” said Morgan.
Board member Brady Franks asked Lee what the drivers are of the cost increases from the 2022 plan.
Lee explained that inflation, additional projects, and a growing backlog of projects now added into the plan are the reasons for rising costs.
Franks said that he and Morgan reviewed the most expensive projects from the 2022 plan and the 2026 plan and that “the cost difference is pretty notable.”
“Is it fair to say in general that cheaper water supplies have largely been tapped and that future water supplies will likely be more expensive moving forward?” Franks asked Lee.
“I think that’s a fair assessment,” Lee replied. She then provided scenarios for water supply projects that are being used to access new water sources for the regions.
“All the cheap water is gone it seems,” Morgan noted.
Lee said the Water Supply Planning division can suggest edits to the plans and provide recommendations for changes.
“It’s worth noting that this is our best estimate of future water need, population, I mean there are hundreds, if not thousands of variables that go into this plan,” Franks noted. “It’s a fifty year plan, it’s a living document that is our best guess today of what things will look like in fifty years.”
“Things will change,” Franks continued. “Some things will change, some things won’t get built, some things will get added.”
After public comment, the board voted unanimously to approve the plans.
