{"id":26546,"date":"2013-04-16T11:35:21","date_gmt":"2013-04-16T16:35:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=26546"},"modified":"2013-11-04T11:24:37","modified_gmt":"2013-11-04T17:24:37","slug":"as-water-plan-legislation-gets-closer-to-reality-little-opposition-found","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2013\/04\/16\/as-water-plan-legislation-gets-closer-to-reality-little-opposition-found\/","title":{"rendered":"As Water Plan Legislation Gets Closer to Reality, Little Opposition Found"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by EPA\/LARRY W. SMITH \/LANDOV<\/p>

The bottom of the lake after the water has dried up at the Benbrook Lake Dock in Benbrook, Texas, near the peak of the drought in August 2011.<\/p><\/div>\n

While there are different routes proposed to get there, one goal is clear this legislative session: lawmakers want to do something to address the state’s water woes. Texas faces shrinking water supplies, persistent drought<\/a> and a growing population. One major initiative<\/a> that would likely take $2 billion from the state’s Rainy Day Fund<\/a> to start financing new water projects in the state had a hearing today at the\u00a0State Senate Natural Resources Committee<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Representatives of farmers, environmentalists and conservative groups all had their say on that proposal, HB 4<\/a>, by Rep. Allan Ritter<\/a>, R-Nederland. And for the most part, the plan has widespread support. \u201cI\u2019m getting a little bit worried because the comments by the Texas Farm Bureau sound like the rationale Sierra Club has for supporting this bill,\u201d joked Ken Kramer, Water Resources Chair & Legislative Advisor\u00a0for the Lone Star Sierra Club, who testified in favor of the bill.<\/p>\n

The plan would create a revolving bank, the State Water Implementation Fund of Texas (SWIFT),\u00a0that would review and approve loans for water projects, things like new reservoirs, brackish desalination and conservation. The loans would be repaid into the bank, which would then use the money for other new projects. 20 percent of the funding would be dedicated to conservation projects, while 10 percent would be directed towards rural areas.<\/p>\n

At this point, the only real opposition to the water funding comes from some fiscal conservative groups, who argue that state spending and oversight is largely unnecessary.<\/p>\n

Chuck Devore<\/a>, Vice President of the Texas Public Policy Foundation<\/a>\u00a0(TPPF), a free market advocacy group, testified that TPPF has “significant reservations” about using the Rainy Day Fund to start the water bank. “We\u2019d like to point out that spending on infrastructure, including water, is a fairly routine item. As a result we believe it\u2019d be prudent for this money to come out of the spending limit.”<\/p>\n

Because of that spending limit, another proposal that emerged late last week would take the spending authority for the water bank and put it in the voters hands<\/a>, a measure the Texas Public Policy Foundation also opposes.<\/p>\n

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