Texas Water Development Board closes on a loan for $2 million to the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (DeWitt, Victoria, Calhoun, Refugio, Gonzales, Caldwell, Hays, Comal, Guadalupe, and Kendall counties) for a seawater desalination project

For immediate release. Contact: Media Relations at 512-463-5129

AUSTIN – (December 1, 2015) –-The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) today closed on a loan in the amount of $2 million from the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas (SWIFT) program* to the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority [GBRA] (DeWitt, Victoria, Calhoun, Refugio, Gonzales, Caldwell, Hays, Comal, Guadalupe, and Kendall counties). The assistance will allow GBRA to perform a feasibility study on a seawater desalination project.

GBRA could save approximately $563,000 over the life of the loan by using SWIFT.

The assistance will allow GBRA to finance a study to identify a site and transmission and delivery options for an Integrated Water and Power Project. The study will examine the feasibility of diverting and treating seawater from the Gulf of Mexico and then conveying it to areas in the central and Gulf coastal regions of South Texas. The project is expected to include a seawater desalination plant co-located with a power plant along the Texas Gulf Coast. The project will provide additional water supplies and provide source diversification.

On December 1, 2015, the application period for the 2016 funding cycle of the SWIFT program will open. Entities will have until February 5, 2016, to submit a preliminary, two-page application. Applications may be submitted via TWDB's new online application or by paper-copy.

*The SWIFT program includes two funds, the State Water Implementation Revenue Fund for Texas (SWIRFT) and the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas (SWIFT). Revenue bonds for the program are issued through the SWIRFT.

The TWDB is the state agency charged with collecting and disseminating water-related data, assisting with regional planning, and preparing the state water plan for the development of the state's water resources. The TWDB administers cost-effective financial assistance programs for the construction of water supply, wastewater treatment, flood control, and agricultural water conservation projects.