The Texas Tribune reports today that even if voters approve Proposition 6 to raid the Rainy Day Fund to the tune of $2 Billion, the state’s water problems will continue to persist. The Tribune explains:
“It could help with future droughts, but it’s unlikely to help with the current drought,” Jeremy Brown, an environmental law researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, said of Proposition 6.
“By the time projects are identified, bonds are issued, and projects are actually initiated and then come online, that’s some ways down the road,” Brown said, “even for the most shovel-ready of projects.”
Then there are bureaucratic hurdles. A North Texas water supplier fought for 10 years to win state approval of the first reservoir to be built in decades, and it is still awaiting a federal permit. Some river authorities are in multiyear battles for rights to more water, including from the Brazos River. And many cities and industries are looking to groundwater to meet their growing needs, but they have to wait for legal fights to be resolved and for legislation to address the extent to which the resource can be regulated.
Bureaucratic hurdles, indeed. Read the whole thing here.
Throwing money at the problem won’t fix it. The fundamental legal, regulatory, and bureaucratic obstacles must be overcome before Texas can expect to see long term gains in water security. The prudent choice is to abandon Proposition 6 and focus on fixing the law, lightening the regulatory burden, and streamlining the bureaucracy so that Texas can effectively prepare against future droughts.