Today is a
fabulous day to celebrate the work of so many people
over the last few decades to bring Bois d’Arc
Lake to fruition.
This lake is critical for the future of North Texas
to ensure that we have a safe, reliable water supply available
for the communities that we serve across North Texas.
We currently serve around 2 million North Texans,
spread out in over 80 communities.
Of those communities, many of them are the larger cities
that you may hear about, but many of them are rural communities.
In fact, more than half of the communities
we serve have a population of less than 10,000 people.
Water supply is essential for the State of Texas.
We are growing at over 1,000 citizens a day, and not a single
one of those citizens is bringing a drop of water with them.
It will definitely be an economic stimulus for the county.
The average person, average customer, does not realize what it takes.
The man hours and the number of people, the different disciplines that it takes,
the different county,
city, state agencies that are involved.
It's just a tremendous amount of people.
I couldn't even tell you how many thousands of people
have actually touched this thing at one time or other.
This project has a total price tag of around $1.6 billion.
Through the use of the Texas Water Development Board's low-interest loans,
we were able to save our members and customers,
and ultimately their ratepayers, $250 million.
I think without the SWIFT program, which our legislators
so wonderfully entrusted TWDB with in 2013,
we wouldn't have the commitment to this water supply project.
In order to qualify for SWIFT funding, you have to be in the state water plan.
So North Texas Municipal Water District ensured that they got this
reservoir in the state water plan, which enabled them
to take advantage of a tremendous deal through our SWIFT program.
The Texas Water Development Board is an excellent partner for us.
In addition to providing the funding that is necessary for this project,
there’s been tremendous foresight
by the State of Texas in the work that Texas Water Development Board does.
I am so thrilled to bring my two kids to the first reservoir
built in over 30 years.
This is one of the fastest growing areas in the state
and in the country, and it desperately needs this water supply.
So, this is a great day for the state.