[Jane Hughson] Playing catch-up isn't going to
work with water.
You know, you can always go out and pave some roads,
but with water, you've got to find the sources.
Water is the new oil in Texas, and water is not plentiful.
It's a renewable resource. It is not an unlimited resource.
[Graham Moore] Today, we're in Rosanky, Texas,
at a about 560-acre property
that Alliance Regional Water Authority owns.
This is the groundbreaking
for our water treatment plant project.
This is really the heart of what we need
in order to bring on this new water supply
for our customers.
We span a large area,
generally from the south side of Austin
to the north side of San Antonio.
So from Buda in the north, all the way down
to the Gruene Valley in the south near the Cibolo area.
It is a large swath in a,
really, a fast-growing part of the state.
Our water supply is Carrizo groundwater.
So, we have to produce wells that retrieve the water
out of the ground, bring it up, treat it here
at the property that we're at today.
And then we will pump that water
to our different delivery points to our customers
in the I-35 region.
[Jane Hughson] This is huge because San Marcos is
one of the fastest-growing cities.
And one of the things you need to grow is clean water.
We need water for people; we need water for industry.
We're managing our growth as best we can
but having the water source is going to be critical
to our success.
[Graham Moore] The need for this water
supply source is purely driven
by the growth in the corridor
between Austin and San Antonio.
We recently received census data that's shown
in the past 10 years just what growth has occurred.
We expect that same type of growth to continue to occur
for the next several decades.
And so, the water supply source and the treatment
we're doing here today will serve that future growth.
For this project, we are partnered
with the Guadalupe Blanco River Authority or GBRA.
And so, we have a unique partnership
where we're sharing in the capacity
of the treatment facility
and many of the transmission lines.
And so in total, the project is about $400 million in cost.
Alliance's share is $240 million dollars of that.
We are 100 percent financed
through the Texas Water Development Board
and the SWIFT program.
[Kristin Miller] By working with the
Texas Water Development Board,
entities like Alliance Regional Water Authority are able
to provide infrastructure
that will provide a long-term source of drinking water
to high-growth areas in the community
and will serve the community over the life of the facility.
Without this project, the member utilities will not be able
to meet water needs by 2033 with the current water sources.
According to the State Water Plan,
the proposed project is anticipated
to meet future regional needs through 2060.
[Graham Moore] We're very excited to have
the groundbreaking here today.
It'll be about two years
until the treatment plant is completed
and our infrastructure network is in place
to where we deliver water.
So, summer of 2023
we expect to be delivering water to our customers.
[Jane Hughson] We have to make sure that we've got water
from sources that are sustainable,
and that's what has been found.
The groundbreaking today is so exciting,
and it's one of the next phases of this project
that's going to be important to so many in our region.