Straus Appoints Members to Water Committees

Texas House Speaker Joe Straus has appointed state Reps. Allan Ritter, Drew Darby and Eddie Lucio III to serve on the committee that will oversee the spending of $2 billion in water financing that voters approved last November. 

The three legislators will help work the complicated process of deciding which water projects should be at the top of the priority list and therefore be first in line for $6 billion in loans that voters approved back in 2011. That money comes from state bonding; the additional $2 billion came from the Rainy Day Fund, and will go toward lowering the interest on those loans or allowing for deferred payments. The Texas Water Development Board is currently working on rules for that process, which must be finalized by mid-2014. 

Ritter, the current chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, plans to retire at the end of his current term, so Straus will have to replace him in January.