Texas struggles to keep pace as thirst for water intensifies

El Paso, which has about 700,000 people living in a desert region that gets only 9 inches (23 centimeters) of rain annually, receives international groups wanting to learn more about innovative facilities like the largest inland desalination plant in the U.S. San Antonio launched its own desalination plant in 2017 and next year intends to begin importing water from a well field 140 miles (225 kilometers) away, giving the area a dozen different sources of water for some 2.5 million people.But the big-ticket projects in Texas and greater push for long-term planning — the state every five years updates its water strategy based on a 50-year outlook — smack head-on against infrastructure defined by aging water lines, outdated treatment plants and smaller utilities focused on their own interests rather than regional ones.These and other factors were at play when Texas cities and utilities in 2015 issued 1,550 boil-water advisories, up from about 1,100 in 2012 and 650 in 2008, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.Such problems don’t become easier when the rains wane.“We’re actually falling more behind for the big one, the repeat of the drought of record,” Mace said.Texas in 2002 was lagging by 2.4 million acre feet in meeting water demands at the height of severe drought, he said, and now the state is 4.7 million acre feet behind.