Just this past summer, broken water lines triggered a 13-day boil water notice in Laredo and a major water outage in Odessa, and Zapata almost ran out of water after reservoirs reached dangerously low levels. Texas is in dire need of better water infrastructure.
But to invest more wisely, state officials need to improve Texas’ long-term water plans. A sense of urgency should also apply to water conservation efforts.
The good news is that there is federal money available to spend in water infrastructure, and policymakers are hopeful that the state Legislature will invest more, too. The bad news is that water is evaporating faster than ever, and the state’s dependence on surface water supplies such as rivers and reservoirs is becoming riskier, as the Texas Tribune recently reported.
