SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Thousands of Texans could one day get their drinking water from the Gulf of Mexico, according to a study commissioned by state officials.
The $59,000 research grant paid for by the Texas Water Development Board may help determine whether a large desalination plant at Matagorda Bay is worth building.
The plant would convert salt water to drinking water in an effort to meet demands from consumers as far away as San Antonio.
Once considered prohibitively expensive, the technology behind desalination is getting cheaper while the cost to build and maintain traditional water reservoirs is rising.
The study could launch a $400 million project proposed by the Lavaca-Navidad River Authority, if the treatment process is shown to be cost effective and environmentally friendly.
Reservoirs across the state are at a 20-year low, having fallen to 72 percent of their capacity, according to the state water board.
"We historically have been involved with groundwater, so now we're having to look at other types of sources," Ron Brown, a project engineer with San Antonio Water System, told the Express-News. "This is just another possible resource for us."
The San Antonio Water System delivered 183,000 acre-feet of water for its customers last year. The proposed treatment plant would produce 100,000 acre-feet of drinking water, or more than 32 billion gallons. An acre-foot meets the needs of two average families for a year.
The main advantage of a desalination plant would be during droughts, said Jack Nelson, general manager for the river authority, which is based in Edna.
The water supply from the bay wouldn't diminish, as opposed to water levels in aquifers and reservoirs, he said, and a desalination plant would take up to five years to build, compared with 20 years to develop a new reservoir. |
