83rd Legislature News: Water Significant Issue for Texas Legislators
The following is a digest of an article from the Texas Tribune. The Texas Lobby Group is posting this summary as a service for the 83rd Texas Legislative Session and for any lobbyists, politicians, consultants, or politically interested persons.
Over the last several years, Texas has seen record highs in temperature coupled with consistent drought and extremely high fire risk. Water restrictions have been ongoing. There simply hasn’t been enough time between droughts for the land to fully heal. Austin saw only three percent of its usual rainfall over the last two months, and Lake Travis is now standing at 36 feet below it’s normal waterline. This has opened up conversation in the House and Senate regarding water conservation and purification.
At present, Texas is coming close to using about as much water as the Edwards Aquifer has to offer. As one of the fastest growing states in the nation, it has become apparent to Texas that another source of water may need to be utilized in the near future. In the upcoming Legislative session, lawmakers will be determining how much money is needed to fund water purification and desalination projects.
Read the original article here.