Two Harris County neighborhoods receiving millions in funding for water infrastructure

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Eighteen million of your tax dollars are coming back to Harris County to help with water infrastructure.

Water is increasingly a political issue in Texas. It's not just about dealing with the continued population growth and widening development; it's also about repairing and fixing aging infrastructure that is decades old.

State Rep. Armando Walle (D-Houston) has made clean water among his top missions during his 18 years in office.

"Infrastructure, water infrastructure is very important to this community," Walle told ABC13. "It's a huge priority. It's the reason I've served on natural resources in several sessions."

On Monday, Walle announced that he helped secure $18 million for two projects. One of them includes new water lines and new hydrants in the Heather Glen neighborhood.

Another is new infrastructure in what's called the Airline Improvement District in unincorporated Harris County.

ABC13 profiled this part of the county three years ago, during a tour with Walle, meeting homeowners who could not drink their water because of aging wells and proximity to septic systems.

Water infrastructure is a statewide issue. That's why state legislators created the Texas Water Fund, and in November, voters approved Proposition 4, which dedicated $1 billion in annual funding to support water infrastructure, supply projects, and conservation.

In a study last year, the public policy think tank, Texas 2036, estimated Texas needs to invest at least $154 billion over the coming decades to address the state's water infrastructure challenges.

In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated Texas will need $74 billion in repairs to drinking water systems alone over the next 20 years.

Walle knows this money, and these projects are a drop in the bucket, but every bit helps. And it is, after all, returning taxpayer money to communities in need of it.

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