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Capital Highlights
The Texas Water Development Board recently reported to Gov. Greg Abbott that a controversial reservoir project in Northeast Texas could be finished and operating within the next 25 years, The Dallas Morning News reported.
The Marvin Nichols Reservoir has been on the drawing board for decades to be built in the Sulphur River Basin, which includes parts of Franklin, Red River and Titus counties. The water would go to 213 water user groups in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Landowners in the affected areas have long opposed the reservoir’s construction since they would lose valuable farm and timber land. The reservoir has pitted two regional water groups against each other. Region C, which represents the Metroplex area, is in favor of its construction while Region D officials, representing the reservoir’s proposed site,, as well as more than a dozen environmental groups oppose the reservoir.
The News reported that the official recommendation of a reservoir project in no way guarantees its construction. The permitting process at the state and federal levels likely will take decades. Cost to build the 66,000-acre lake is now estimated at more than $7 billion.
Abbott floats notion of buying water from Houston for West Texas Abbott and Houston Mayor John Whitmire reportedly have been in initial talks to sell the city’s “excess” water to West Texas, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Whitmire, a longtime state senator before being elected mayor, told the Chronicle that he was open to the idea if it means the city can get much-needed infrastructure funding, calling it potentially a “win-win.”
Cities and businesses operating in the Permian Basin are calling for more access to water as their aquifers run low after decades of unrestricted drilling. However, a recent State Water Plan predicts the 15-county region that includes Houston could itself run short of water for municipal needs by 2030.
Whitmire said the city could build new reservoirs to hold water sold to the state in exchange for funding to fix its crumbling infrastructure.
The city needs about $15 billion just to fix its water pipes and build a new water purification plant. Houston has lost 36 billion gallons of water in the past two years – enough to supply the entire city of Fort Worth, with 900,000 people, with water for a year.
HEGAR RELEASES BIENNIAL REVENUE FORECAST
The Texas Legislature begins its work creating a state budget for the next two years with slightly less revenue available than it had during the previous biennium.
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar projects lawmakers will have $194.6 billion available during the 202627 budget cycle, down 1.1%. Hegar said the decrease is because the state is starting with a beginning balance that is nearly $16 billion less compared to 2024-25.
He noted the state is in good financial shape and predicts revenue collections will continue to rise in the upcoming biennium.
“Thoughtful consideration of spending decisions, as always, will be crucial to ensure new and existing investments can be funded in the future — and that these investments focus on improving the lives of Texans,” Hegar said.
Sales tax collections continue to make up the state’s largest source of general fund revenue at 61%, followed distantly by oil and gas tax collections.
INVESTOR TIED TO PAXTON IMPEACHMENT PLEADS GUILTY
Austin real estate investor Nate Paul pleaded guilty last week to a single federal count of making false statements to a financial institution, the Austin American-Statesman reported. All other charges were dropped. Paul faces up to six months in prison under the plea deal.
Paul, a major contributor to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s campaigns, was the focus of a federal investigation. Allegations that Paxton improperly used his office to help Paul thwart the probes led to the attorney general’s impeachment in the House in 2023 on 20 counts of improperly accepting gifts and favors from the developer. Paxton was acquitted in the Texas Senate.
Investigators said Paul underreported his total debt and overreported his cash on hand in order to obtain loans to buy commercial properties.
FATAL OCCUPATIONAL INJURY REPORT RELEASED
A total of 564 workers died on the job in 2023, according to the Texas Department of Insurance’s annual report, down slightly from the previous year. Most of the fatalities occurred in the private sector – 93%.
The trade, transportation, and utilities industry, both private and public sector, reported the most fatalities at 183. During the same period 126 construction workers died on the job.
The number of worker fatalities has not changed markedly in the past five years, according to TDI.
TEXAS FIREFIGHTERS DEPLOYED TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
The Texas Division of Emergency Management and Texas A&M Forest Service have deployed firefighters, emergency management and medical personnel, fire engines, and equipment to assist with wildfire response efforts in California.
More than 135 firefighters and other emergency personnel, as well as more than 45 fire engines, ambulances, command vehicles, and equipment, have been sent to California.
“I thank all the brave firefighters and first responders who are answering the call to help Californians in need as these fires continue to burn,” Abbott said.
AIR IN 12 COUNTIES EXCEEDED FEDERAL SOOT STANDARDS
A dozen Texas counties have recently exceeded federal air quality standards for particulate matter, also called soot, The Texas Tribune reported.
However, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is recommending that eight of those counties be excluded from stricter federal pollution rules because of either faulty air monitoring data or “exceptional events,” such as wildfires and dust storms.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last year cut the permitted level of particulate matter from 12 to 9 micrograms per cubic meter annually. It is considered the deadliest form of air pollution.
TCEQ has proposed that four counties – Dallas, Harris, Tarrant, and Bowie – be declared out of attainment. The other eight counties that exceed the new limit would be allowed to avoid the tougher standards. Those are Travis, Montgomery, Kleberg, Harrison, Ellis, Webb, Hidalgo and Cameron counties.
Gary Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: [email protected]
