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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, The population of the State of Texas is projected to |
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more than double between 2000 and 2060, expanding from 21 million to |
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46 million inhabitants and fueling a 27 percent increase in water |
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demand, from almost 17 million acre-feet to 21.5 million acre-feet; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Water supplies will decrease by 18 percent, from |
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17.9 million acre-feet to 14.6 million acre-feet, primarily because |
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of accumulating sediments in reservoirs and the depletion of |
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freshwater aquifers; some 2.7 billion acre-feet of brackish |
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groundwater are contained in other Texas aquifers, however, and an |
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inexhaustible supply of seawater is available from the Gulf of |
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Mexico; and |
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WHEREAS, Desalination of brackish groundwater is already |
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providing new water supplies to communities all across Texas, from |
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Cameron County to San Angelo, with the country's largest inland |
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brackish groundwater desalination facility soon to go into |
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operation in El Paso; and |
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WHEREAS, Desalination of seawater is a proven technology that |
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is providing water-supply solutions for countries around the globe |
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and an increasingly cost-competitive alternative for coastal |
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cities in the United States; the first seawater desalination plant |
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in Texas, a pilot-scale facility in Brownsville, has just begun |
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functioning, and results obtained there will help in designing a |
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large-scale plant to be constructed in the near future; and |
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WHEREAS, Major funding for seawater desalination studies has |
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been provided by the Texas Water Development Board through |
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appropriations by the Texas Legislature under an initiative |
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launched by Governor Rick Perry in April 2002 to develop |
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drought-proof supplies of water for the Lone Star State; and |
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WHEREAS, Funding for numerous brackish groundwater studies |
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has also been provided by the Texas Water Development Board through |
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appropriations by the Texas Legislature as a means of accelerating |
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development of new water supplies in rural communities; and |
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WHEREAS, The success of these projects benefits not only the |
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communities they directly serve but also Texas as a whole by freeing |
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up existing water resources for new uses and by demonstrating |
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technologies and processes that can be applied by other entities; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, The Texas Water Conservation Association |
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Desalination Coalition and the South Central Membrane Association |
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have joined together to promote awareness of desalination as a |
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proven technology for increasing water supplies in Texas and to |
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support continued investment in Texas desalination activities as a |
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practical means of ensuring adequate supplies of water for |
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generations of Texans to come; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 80th Texas |
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Legislature hereby recognize March 7, 2007, as Texas Desalination |
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Day at the State Capitol and encourage continued investment in |
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practical applications of desalination technology in Texas for the |
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benefit of all citizens. |