Government
BY ETHAN THOMAS
In a 3-1 vote, Comal County commissioners approved the application for $30 million from the Texas Water Development Board, or TWDB, Clean Water State Revolving Fund on Oct. 23. County Judge Sherman Krause was not present and Precinct 2 Commissioner Scott Haag dissented. “We’re going to have to pay [the loan] back, and that’s going to have to come from the property taxes,” Haag said. The fund is authorized through the Clean Water Act passed by Congress in 1972, providing low-cost nancial assistance for cities, counties and other authorities in the acquisition, design and construc- tion of water infrastructure across the state. The details If approved by TWDB, the funds would come in the form of a loan to launch the Comal County Water Quality Protection Lands Program for state scal year 2026-27, according to commissioners. The program seeks to acquire land in the recharge zones of the Trinity and Edwards aquifers in Comal County in hopes of protecting ground and surface water availability, according to Comal County. The land acquired by the county would be designated as a Priority Groundwater Management Area, or PGMA, by the state. PGMA’s are dened as land that is currently experiencing, or is expected to experience in the next 50 years, groundwater shortages or contamination, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Comal County OKs application for conservation fund
Comal County’s projected water demand Water need is set to exceed existing supplies by over 130,00 acre-feet per year by 2080, according to the Texas Water Development Board. Water demand Existing water supply *Strategy supplies
-67.05%
-59.42%
50K 100K 200K 150K
-49.05%
-34.75%
+7.91% -17.65%
0
2030
2040
2050
2060
2070
2080
*STRATEGY SUPPLIES INDICATE GROUNDWATER WELLS, AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY, MUNICIPAL CONSERVATION, DROUGHT MANAGEMENT AND AGRICULTURAL CONSERVATION, ACCORDING TO TWDB.
SOURCE: TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARDCOMMUNITY IMPACT
between TWDB and Comal County during the pro- cess, and supporting the county through receiving the funds, according to the rm. What they’re saying Roxanna Dean, another Comal County resident, spoke about the need for conservation e¤orts now, saying the cost of land and water protections could double in the next decade. “[The loan terms] make this a landmark invest- ment in quality of life, environmental resilience and taxpayer value. This is not government overreach, it is responsible stewardship,” Dean said. Looking ahead The vote allows the county to submit an “Intent to Apply” form to TWDB. A completed application must be submitted to TWDB by Dec. 4, which will review the application and either approve or deny the funds. If approved, closing documents will be led and the county will begin providing quarterly outlay reports detailing expenditures and loan repay- ments, according to TWDB.
In that timeline, Comal County’s population is expected to increase from 259,280 in 2030 to over 950,000 by 2080—a 267.58% increase, according to TWDB. The demand would balloon from approximately 58,372 acre-feet, or about 19 billion gallons a year, to over 193,961 acre-feet, or 63 billion gallons, accord- ing to TWDB data. Applying to the TWDB Clean Water State Revolving Fund would unlock key planning and nancial support for the county in this endeavor, according to Moriarty and Associates, the law rm that put together the application and Project Information Form. Approximately $4.5 million of the loan could be forgiven, with the remaining $25.5 million to be repaid over 30 years at an annual interest rate of approximately 2.91%, Precinct 3 Commissioner Kevin Webb said. This amounts to just over $1 million in loan repayments each year. A $45,000 payment to Moriarty and Associates was also approved by the county to pay for the rm’s application submission, acting as liaison
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