Texas’ economy stands to lose billions of dollars without investments into its water infrastructure

AUSTIN – KUT reports that the outlook for water in Texas is looking a bit … dry. The state will face a long-term water deficit if fails to develop new supplies and gets hit by another multi-year drought, according to a new report. The report also suggests that a prolonged, severe drought, like that of the 1950s or 2011, could cost the state’s economy hundreds of billions of dollars. Texas 2036, a non-profit, public policy organization, commissioned the report to explore the possible consequences of under-investment in the state’s water infrastructure. That potential large loss of money is because industries such as agriculture, manufacturing and energy production heavily rely upon water availability, said Jeremy Mazur, director of infrastructure and natural resources policy at Texas 2036.

“If we don’t have reliable water infrastructure, then we likely cannot have the continuation of the Texas economic miracle,” he said. “But one of the more alarming findings was that if we don’t have enough reliable water supplies and have a long, severe drought, then the reliability of our state’s electric grid could come into question.” For those reasons, Mazur said Texas 2036 has chosen water infrastructure as one its main areas of focus for this year’s legislative session. He said he plans to work with state lawmakers to help fund improvements to the state’s more than 10,000 drinking water and wastewater systems. The organization estimates $154 billion will need to be spent on the state’s water infrastructure over the next 50 years. That includes $59 billion for new water supplies, nearly $74 billion for drinking water upgrades and over $21 billion to fix wastewater systems.