The Texas Water Development Board approved more than $12 million in financial assistance for projects related to water infrastructure and wastewater treatment.
The board funded $9.5 million for a new wastewater treatment plant in Bexar County. The money will be tapped from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and will benefit the San Antonio River Authority.
TWDB also granted $4.5 million to Hidalgo County Drainage District No. 1 for costs related to an incoming drainage system. Officials estimate the Raymondville Drain Outfall System is expected to cost $418 million.
“This grant is going to be very instrumental in allowing us to advanced drainage infrastructure in our area,” Hidalgo County Precinct 4 Commissioner Joseph Palacios said. “The project is going as the number one ranked project that has been on the books for decades. What we’ve done is already done a lot of professional services, $4.5 million is going to allow us to get to the first leg of construction of a 63-mile segment that will provide outflow to the entire Rio Grande Valley.”
“We continue to grow in South Texas, populations are booming, commercial, industrial, residential development, so we are going to continue to catalyze drainage infrastructure so we can go ahead and preserve the properties that are within our districts,” Palacios added.
Additionally, TWDB approved a $750,000 low interest loan for improvements to the water system in Henderson County.
TWDB chairman Bech Bruun said it was for the city of Chandler “to basically upgrade some aging 1970s water treatment infrastructure.”
“So, a new tank, new ground storage tank, and disinfectant system and pumps,’ Bruun mentioned.
Other project funding authorized by the board included $455,000 to the City of Booker (Lipscomb and Ochiltree counties) and $1.9 million to the D&M Water Supply Corporation (Nacogdoches County) for “water system improvements.”
A quarter of the money granted by TWDB on Thursday was designated for projects in rural Texas.