texas state water plan

Proposition 6 created an initial SWIFT fund of $2 billion, which the TWBD expects to leverage into a total of $27 billion in financing over the next 50 years to implement the state water plan, with about half of that coming from state financial assistance. State officials said TWDB was able to approve a large number of projects in the first round because a majority of entities applying for funds requested long-term financing, which enabled the board to stretch the available funds. TWBD allocates funding for water projects based on a ranking system it developed that takes into account the length of time it will take to implement a project and the overall long-term improvement the project represents. For example, a seawater desalination plant proposed by the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority received seed funds from TWDB even though it will take much longer to build than other, higher-priority projects. TWDB must by law spend up to 20 percent of Prop 6 funds in the next five years on water conservation or re-use projects.