McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — The State of Texas is helping with funds for a desalination plant to be built in Corpus Christi, a state lawmaker says.

The Texas Water Development Board on Tuesday approved $535 million in multi-year financing for Corpus Christi’s Inner Harbor Seawater Desalination Treatment Plant, State Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, a Democrat who represents McAllen and Corpus Christi, said.

The city asked for help funding the project as many communities in South Texas are worried about future drinking water and agricultural water supplies.

“I commend the city of Corpus Christi for their proactive approach to ensure our families and businesses have a sustainable water supply for multiple generations. Converting our sea and brackish water into reusable water is just one key component to providing a reliable, sustainable water base for future economic development and jobs in the region,” Hinojosa said in a statement.

Corpus Christi is receiving money from the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas through the Texas Water Development Board, Hinojosa says.

The fund has supplied billions of dollars to communities for water management over the past several decades, the agency reports.

Corpus Christi has pursued funding for a desalination water treatment plant for over a decade.

Hinojosa says Corpus Christi also has worked to secure an additional reliable water source to withstand future droughts and growing water needs from a burgeoning population in South Texas.

Currently the city supplies water to half a million people and relies on surface water from four sources and one plant that treats about 25 billion gallons of water each year.

Several South Texas communities are worried about their future water sources.

Laredo projects it could run out of water by 2044.

The state’s only sugar mill shut down in February in Santa Rosa, Texas, because there wasn’t enough water for the thirsty plants.

And Hidalgo County, on the border, has declared a disaster due to drought and lack of rain and lack of water payments from Mexico.

Mexico owes the United States 1.75 million acre-feet of water over a five-year cycle that ends in October 2025, according to a 1944 international treaty. But Mexico has barely paid one year’s worth of water, so far, and experts worry the country won’t be able to pay its debt when the cycle ends, according to the latest data by the International Boundary and Water Commission.

“The future prosperity of communities throughout the Coastal Bend and the Rio Grande Valley continues to be threatened by water shortages. As Texans, we tend to be reactive to address issues as they come up. But when it comes to water security, we must be proactive by implementing solutions that result in new or additional sources of water,” Hinojosa said.

The desalination plant in Corpus Christi will produce potable water and expected to be fully integrated into the city’s regional water system by 2028.

This is the second low-interest loan the city has received from SWIFT for Corpus’ desalination plant. In 2020, Corpus Christi was awarded $222 million to build a 20-million-gallons-per-day desalination plant. But, to date, that plant is expected to cost $758 million and the current plans call for the plant that is being built to process 30 million gallons per day.

Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.