The State of Texas, pending a statewide vote in November, will throw $1 billion toward long-term water resources. The problem, experts say, is that's not even close to enough money.
"I expect it to pass pretty overwhelmingly based on polling," Scherer said. "There isn't any organized opposition to this."
The Texas Water Development Board says the state loses more than 130 billion gallons of water each year due to leaky pipes, so repairing those leaks is one thing that money would be spent on should the vote pass.Possibilities include making saltwater drinkable, using wastewater from oil wells, and refilling neglected aquafers.
These funds will primarily go towards rural areas, as they have less money. So Houston won't be a priority for any of these projects.In the long-term, getting to $80 billion will require a lot of work and money, but Scherer said there is reason to believe that could be the case in the state legislature moving forward.
"It seems that there's going to be some sort of investment in this by necessity," he said. "It's just a matter of whether the money is going to be there. For a state this big, there's a lot of other ways to spend money, so it's kind of a big question mark at the moment."
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