The terrible floods that devastated the Hill Country in July obscured a basic fact: Texas is sliding into a full-blown water crisis. Two months before the floods, Canyon Lake was only 46% full; Lake Travis, 41%. While both of these crucial Hill Country drinking water sources are more full now, other reservoirs remain at dangerously low levels, especially the two that supply Corpus Christi — Choke Canyon Reservoir is currently at 11% full, and Lake Corpus Christi is at 13%. Our aquifers aren’t doing any better. The Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District and the Edwards Aquifer Authority are both in drought restrictions that require most permitted wells to reduce their groundwater pumping by 40-50%.
Proposition 4 won’t solve all of our state’s water problems, but it’s an essential step. SBCA is strongly urging you to vote YES for Prop 4 when you cast your ballot on Election Day, Tuesday, November 4.
The key feature of Prop 4 is that it would amend our state’s Constitution to spend $20 billion on water infrastructure projects. This money will not come from a new tax — it will be an allocation of $1 billion annually for the next two decades from existing sales and use tax revenue that the state already collects. This money will go into the Texas Water Fund, which our state’s voters created by approving a previous constitutional amendment two years ago. Funding for specific projects will be determined by the Legislature and will be administered by the Texas Water Development Board, one of our oldest and best-run state agencies.
The big question: What will this $20 billion be spent on? The short answer: projects for water, wastewater, and flooding. The longer answer is that thanks to Prop 4’s enabling legislation (Senate Bill 7, which you can read here), some very worthwhile projects will be eligible for funding.
