The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) just dropped the draft for its 2027 State Water Plan, and the news is about as refreshing as a mouthful of haboob dust. To avoid a total state-wide “Mad Max” scenario over the next 50 years, the state claims it needs a cool $174 billion. That’s more than double the estimate from just four years ago, proving once again that the only thing growing faster than the Texas population is the cost of government incompetence.
If you’d like to share your thoughts on why you enjoy having liquid come out of your faucet, the Board is “accepting public input” until May 29. You can fill out a form online or drive all the way to Austin to tell a room full of bureaucrats that you’d prefer not to die of thirst. It’s a great opportunity to participate in the democratic process of watching a $174 billion problem get solved with a $1 billion-a-year budget.
Meanwhile, down in the Coastal Bend, our neighbors are giving us a terrifying preview of the future. Reservoirs near Corpus Christi have shriveled to a pathetic 8% capacity, which is basically just a damp spot in the dirt where a lake used to be. Every small town in the region is now frantically drilling into the aquifers like they’re looking for oil, even though experts warn that if everyone pumps at once, the ground will be as hollow as a politician’s campaign promise.
The state’s plan involves some 3,000 projects—including desalination and “water recycling”—because apparently, we’ve reached the “drinking our own bathwater” stage of the Texas Miracle. Despite the massive price tag, experts say the $174 billion doesn’t even cover fixing our crumbling, ancient pipes. We’re looking at a future where the water supply drops by 10% while the population explodes, leaving us all to fight over the last remaining puddle in the Choke Canyon Reservoir.
At what point do we just admit the “2027 State Water Plan” is just a $174 billion way of telling us to start practicing our rain dances?
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