Water Conservation Under SWIFT

Original article referenced was published on The Texas Tribune by Kiah Collier on July 23, 2015.

The SWIFT allocation is off to a cautiously optimistic start. Just last week, The Texas Water Development Board approved $4 Billion in funds for its first round of State Water Implementation Fund for Texas (SWIFT)projects.Reportedly, only a handful of these projects were for conservation, indicating that the board has not used the 20% of funds that are allocated to conservation projects by law. On a positive note, all of the conservation projects considered were awarded funds and the Texas Water Development Board is confident that more projects will come under considerationby the time the state’s next state water plan is approved in 2017.

If lack of funding is the not the issuethen what accounts for the dearth of conservation projects under consideration in the first round? The answer is not so simple. Stakeholders in each region of Texas will have its own set of unique challenges that take into account variables such as geography, ability to leverage funds, water resources, population, and existing infrastructure obligations and investments. BVRT is committed to help local stakeholders, governments, and general public develop innovative sustainable water resource models that are suited to their own individual needs and accomplish state conservation goals.

Read more about the Texas Water Board’s allocation of funds in the news here:

Andrés Durá