House advances bill to provide billions in funds for water projects, fixing aging infrastructure

A new fund to jumpstart massive water supply projects and fix aging water infrastructure across the state would be created under legislation that received preliminary approval from the Texas House on Tuesday, in a vote of 139-1.

The fund could get between $1 billion and $3 billion to start, early draft budgets from the House and the Senate indicate.

Senate Bill 28, which passed the Senate in early April, would create a special Texas Water Fund that the Texas Water Development Board, the state water agency that often acts as a large bank for financing water projects, could use for water supply projects and upgrades to existing water infrastructure.