Legislative Update

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There is an old expression in Texas. "You don't miss the water 'til the well runs dry." Without action, Texas could run dry.

 

Population, water usage, and economic growth data gathered in the 2022 State Water Plan (2022 SWP) and presented to the Texas Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs by the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) in May, 2024, show that by 2050, Texas will suffer a water shortfall of up to 5.74 million acre-feet per year if faced with drought conditions similar to those the state has experienced over the last few years.[1] By 2070, the 2022 SWP projects water shortages of up to 6.86 million acre-feet per year.[2]  Some areas of the state are already experiencing shortages today. 

 

Testimony offered to the committee by thinktanks such as Texas 2036 suggested that the shortfall has accelerated beyond what the 2022 SWP accounted for since the plan’s publication.[3] Texas 2036 stated that in tandem with the increasing frequency and severity of drought across much of Texas, the water shortages projected in the 2022 SWP are underestimated.[4] I agree, and I believe the 2050 and 2070 shortfalls will be over 7 million acre-feet and 10 million acre-feet per year, respectively.

 

The time to develop the water supply we need both today and tomorrow is now. A map presented to my committee by TWDB projected that dozens of Texas communities in every corner of the state will face water shortages in excess of 25% of their total needs if drought-of-record conditions strike again in 2050.[5] Cities and towns across the state are limiting, if not altogether withholding, development permits over water concerns. In August, 2024, the City of Conroe, Texas, near Houston, adopted a temporary development moratorium due to water scarcity.[6] Local governments in the Rio Grande Valley are discussing the same option.[7] In Central Texas, permits for water wells and groundwater withdrawals are becoming increasingly contentious as springs and existing wells have run dry in recent years.[8]

 

These shortages touch every Texas economic sector. When TWDB's data is broken down by water use, the users of Texas water most at risk are our state's farmers and ranchers, who need water to irrigate their crops and water livestock; our producers of oil, gas, and minerals, who use  water in their various extraction processes; our power companies, because of their significant dependence upon various forms of steam-electric generation; and our manufacturers, especially the high tech and petrochemical industries.[9] The impact of continued water scarcity to the Texas economy would be immeasurable.

 

Already, the proverbial canaries in the coal mine are singing. In the same May committee hearing, one farmer testifying on behalf of the Texas Farm Bureau revealed that, for the first time in his life, his South Texas farm had no water available for irrigation.[10] In February, the state's only sugar mill, located in Santa Rosa, closed for good because of insufficient water supply to sustain sugar cane yields in South Texas.[11] Over 600 jobs went with it.[12]

 

The business community is expressing valid concern over how water scarcity will affect the future of Texas. During my committee’s May hearing, the Texas Association of Manufacturers (TAM) testified that lacking water supply may cost Texas up to $55 Billion worth of economic development opportunities and 400,000 manufacturing jobs over the next several decades.[13] TAM pointed out that site selectors—consulting firms from around the country that help major corporations identify potential locations for new industrial facilities—are watching closely to see whether Texas will take action to secure ample and affordable water sufficient to meet future needs.[14] Later in the hearing, the Texas Chemistry Council refined everything down to the point by rightly stating, "the success of [Texas] being able to attract new [petrochemical industry] investment is going to be very dependent on water."[15]

 

The facts make it clear. For Texas to sustain the rates of population and economic growth our state has enjoyed the last few decades, we must take action to secure additional water supply development. Fortunately, there is a solution.  It will take bold, new action to address the water challenges of the future.  The current system of moving water from depleting resources to another area--“robbing Peter to pay Paul”--cannot continue.  The solution is to develop undeveloped water supplies adding to the overall volume of water available to Texans to use.

 

During the upcoming regular session set to convene in January, the 89th Texas Legislature will have an opportunity to vote for a plan that will supply water to every community, county, and region of the state. The plan will develop new water supply sources, namely via marine desalination along the coast, brackish water desalination across the state, produced water treatment in the West Texas oil and gas fields, and surface water acquisitions where available both in Texas and elsewhere. Make no mistake: all Texans and all industries will be the beneficiary of this new water supply plan.

 

Water supply development will not be cheap. The new water supply plan will require a large down payment in the form of an appropriation from the surplus the Legislature is expected to enjoy this session. Additionally, there is no dedicated funding stream to support water infrastructure projects in Texas. That is unusual for infrastructure; the State Highway Fund, which supports transportation projects, receives funding from multiple sources dedicated by the Texas Constitution.[16] Like transportation infrastructure, new water supply projects will take decades and billions of dollars to fully develop. To bring them to fruition, the Legislature will need to constitutionally dedicate long-term revenue streams to support the implementation of the plan.

 

Therefore, this session, I will urge my legislative colleagues: (1) to appropriate a large sum toward new water infrastructure projects via the Water Fund; and (2) to constitutionally dedicate a recurring revenue stream similar in nature to those dedicated to the Highway Fund in support of the Water Fund.

 

Water is critical to the future of Texas—after all, mankind can neither survive nor thrive without it. No future Texan should go thirsty, no Texas farmer should lose his crop, no Texas employer should lose his business, and no Texas employee should lose his job on account of a lack of water. Water infrastructure is costly and takes years of planning and construction to develop—but it will be more costly and more consequential the longer we wait to get started. To ensure sufficient water supply for our children and grandchildren, and to do so at the lowest possible cost and inconvenience, we must start the work now. There is no more important investment for Texas to make to secure its future growth and prosperity.

 

Texas Senator Charles Perry is a life-long West Texan and a practicing certified public accountant from Lubbock. He was first elected to the Texas Senate in 2014 after serving two terms in the Texas House of Representatives.

 

Since 2015, Senator Perry has focused on developing new water supplies for Texas. Senator Perry chairs the Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs, and co-chairs the legislative advisory committees for the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas (SWIFT) and the Texas Infrastructure Resiliency Fund (TIRF). Governor Abbott appointed him to the Southwestern States Water Commission and the Western States Water Council.

 

Senator Perry grew up in the district he represents, graduating from Sweetwater High School. He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting and management information systems from Texas Tech University. He and his wife, Jacklyn, have two children and five grandchildren.

 

[1] Hearing on Interim Charge Before the Tex. S. Comm. on Water, Agric., and Rural Affs., 88th Leg., Interim (May 15, 2024) (statement of Temple McKinnon, Dir. of Water Supply Planning, Tex.

Water Dev. Bd.) (tape available from Senate Staff Services).

[2] Id.

[3] Interim Hearing, supra note 1 (statement of Jeremy Mazur, Policy Dir., Tex. 2036).

[4] Id.

[5] Interim Hearing, supra note 1.

[6] Nichaela Shaheen, 120-day temporary development moratorium in effect for portions of Conroe, Community Impact, Aug. 29, 2024, https://communityimpact.com/houston/conroe-montgomery/government/2024/08/29/120-day-temporary-development-moratorium-in-effect-for-portions-of-conroe/.

[7] Adolfo Muniz, Drought could lead to construction projects halt in RGV, Spectrum News 1, May 16, 2024, https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-texas-el-paso/news/2024/05/16/drought-could-lead-to-construction-projects-halt-in-rgv.

[8] Eric Henrikson, ‘Not enough water to go around’: Why landowners are pushing back against new development, KXAN, Jan. 24, 2024, https://www.kxan.com/texas-water/not-enough-water-to-go-around-why-landowners-are-pushing-back-against-new-development/.

[9] Id.

[10] Interim Hearing, supra note 1 (statement of Brian Jones, Dist. 13 State Dir., Tex. Farm Bureau).

[11] Id; see also Max Massey, Texas' only sugar mill shuts down after 50 years due to water shortage, KSAT, Mar. 1, 2024, https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2024/03/01/texas-only-sugar-mill-shuts-down-after-50-years-due-to-water-shortage/.

[12] Id.

[13] Interim Hearing, supra note 1 (statement of Wroe Jackson, Vice President & Gen. Couns., Tex. Ass'n of Manufacturers).

[14] Id.

[15] Interim Hearing, supra note 1 (statement of Hector Rivero, President, Tex. Chemistry Council).

[16] See, e.g., Tex. Const. art. VIII, §§ 7-a and 7-c.