Regional Water Planning Frequently Asked Questions

To find out which RWPA you are geographically located in, search for your address, city, or county name in the Regional Water Planning Group Locator map. Once you know which region you are located in, you can find out more about that region by clicking on the region-specific pages. To become involved with the RWPG, the TWDB recommends attending a RWPG meeting and/or requesting to be added to the RWPG's email list of interested parties. A list of upcoming meeting dates and locations for each RWPG may be found on the schedule page.

All meetings of RWPGs and their committees or subcommittees are open to the public and subject to the Open Meetings Act. The minimum public notice for planning group meetings is seven (7) days in accordance with TWDB's regional water planning rules (31 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) §357.21). TWDB’s rules require additional notice and public comment periods for some RWPG activities. A matrix summary of RWPG public notice and RWPG meeting requirements may be found here.

In accordance with TWDB rules (31 TAC §357.11(d)), each RWPG must maintain at least one voting member from each of the following interest categories: the public, counties, municipalities, industry, agriculture, environment, small business, electric-generating utilities, river authorities, water districts, water utilities, and groundwater management areas. Each RWPG, at its discretion, may add additional voting or non-voting members for any new interest category, or add additional members to the required interest categories. RWPGs may also remove representatives, as long as the minimum requirements for the categories listed above are maintained. It is the discretion of the planning group to decide who is best to represent the interest category; however, the planning group must follow their bylaws regarding member solicitations and recommendations.

There are six water use categories which are planned for in accordance with TWDB rules (31 TAC §357.31). These categories are municipal, manufacturing, irrigation, steam electric power generation, mining, and livestock. For planning purposes, rural water use, including domestic use, is aggregated and categorized under a sub-set of municipal water user groups referred to as “county-other”.

The environment is not one of the six water use categories specified in 31 TAC §357.31 for which the TWDB develops water demand projections, and for which water needs are identified and water management strategies recommended.

Although environmental uses are not considered a water user group, environmental factors and other factors deemed relevant by the RWPGs (e.g., recreation) must be considered when evaluating water management strategies during development of their plan. For example, TWDB rules (31 TAC §358.3(22)) require that environmental flow standards adopted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) must be accommodated by recommended water management strategies in the regional water plans, where applicable, or in basins where standards are not available or have not been adopted, information from existing site-specific studies or state consensus environmental planning criteria are used. Implementation of all recommended projects must also comply with any permitting requirements related to the environment.

Additionally, TWDB rules (31 TAC §357.35(b) and (c)) require that RWPGs recommend water management strategies that are environmentally sensitive and consistent with the long-term protection of the state’s water resources, agricultural resources, and natural resources.

Guidance principles outlined in TWDB rules (31 TAC §358.3(23)), require RWPGs to give consideration of environmental water needs including instream flows and bay and estuary inflows, including adjustments to water management strategies to provide for environmental water needs including instream flows and bay and estuary needs. Such consideration must be consistent with environmental flow standards where adopted.

Water Demand is the volume of water that a water user group would require during drought of record conditions for its anticipated domestic, public, and/or economic activities. Water Need is a potential water supply shortage based on the difference between projected water demands and existing water supplies. In the planning process, a planning group will compare a water user group’s demands to the water user group's existing water supplies to determine if they may face a potential shortage (need) under drought conditions.

Availability is the total amount of raw water that could be produced from a water source during drought of record conditions. Existing water supply is a subset of the water availability representing the amount of that water that is physically and legally available for use by a water user group. For example, availability is the total amount of water estimated within an aquifer, but the existing water supply is the amount of water that a water user's permit and pump capacity already allows them to pump in the event of a drought. More information can be found here.

While the drought of the 1950s is still considered the statewide benchmark drought for state water planning, the TWDB acknowledges that regional droughts of record may vary by river basin. The drought of record for surface water sources is determined using water availability models developed by the TCEQ and is based on historical flow data. Because RWPGs are required by planning rules (31 TAC §357.32(c)) to use the most recent TCEQ water availability models, any new regional or sub-basin droughts of record identified by model updates will be accounted for when evaluating existing supplies or water management strategies. Planning groups may also address uncertainty and risks, for example, to address a drought worse than the drought of record, when developing their plans. More information can be found here.

Climate models are not used in the regional water planning process. Texas’ water plans are based on benchmark drought of record conditions using historical hydrological data. While we recognize that the full sequence of hydrologic events in our history will never be repeated exactly, the droughts that have occurred have been of such severity that it is reasonable to use them for the purpose of planning. There are currently no forecasting tools capable of providing reliable estimates of changes to future water resources in Texas at the resolution needed for water planning. In order to provide the best available, actionable science, grounded in historical data and patterns, the TWDB continues to collect data and consider potential ways to improve estimates of water supply reliability in the face of drought. Planning groups may also address uncertainty and risks, for example, to address a drought worse than the drought of record, when developing their plans.

Detailed data can be accessed for discrete water user groups by using the online Interactive State Water Plan. Data are presented at varying geographic levels, through maps, tables, and additional graphics. Users can customize what they see, for example, by selecting data associated with a specific water use category or from a specific planning decade. The displayed data is also downloadable in a spreadsheet format. Please visit the About page of the interactive state water plan for guidance on how to find information on the site.

Each regional water plan is required to include an Executive Summary of the plan content. These summaries may be found in the pdf of the most recently adopted regional water plans. Additionally, the TWDB develops short summaries of each regional water plan, which may be accessed using the drop-down box which may be accessed towards the bottom of the 2022 State Water Plan page. Data for specific RWPGs may also be viewed at the regional level through the online Interactive State Water Plan.

The TWDB’s Water Supply and Strategy Analysis staff is available to assist with custom data requests. For TWDB planning data requests, please email the request to WRPdatarequests@twdb.texas.gov.

Beginning with the 2016 regional water plans, each plan contains a specific chapter that describes changes since the last plan. This information can be found in Chapter 11 of each of the 2021 regional water plans.

At the beginning of each planning cycle, RWPGs receive draft water demand projections developed by the TWDB and are given revision criteria by which requests to modify projections may be made. Local input during the review process is important for improving the accuracy of the projections, which are the backbone of data in the planning process. Modifications however, must include an acceptable justification and documentation based on guidance issued by the TWDB. Once projections are adopted by the Board, RWPGs may utilize a formalized revision request process with an associated public notice and comment period as outlined in 31 TAC 357.21(c).

A water management strategy, or WMS, is a plan to meet a water need of a water user group, which may or may not require infrastructure projects to be implemented. A water management strategy project, or WMSP, is an infrastructure project that may be required to implement a water management strategy. Water management strategy projects have capital costs and are designed to develop, deliver, or treat additional water supply volumes, or conserve water for water user groups or wholesale water suppliers. One water management strategy project may be associated with multiple water management strategies. For example, the construction of a single reservoir project (WMSP) may support multiple water user group strategies (WMSs) that use that new supply. In the planning process, RWPGs groups identify and recommend water management strategies and water management strategy projects to address identified water supply needs.

The Texas Water Code (TWC) §16.053(e)(5) and TWDB rules (31 TAC §357.34(c)) require that certain types of potentially feasible water management strategies be considered during plan development. Innovative technologies required to be considered include reuse, seawater and brackish groundwater desalination, aquifer storage and recovery, and rainwater harvesting. The TWDB’s guidance also requires that if aquifer storage and recovery, seawater desalination, and brackish groundwater desalination strategies are not recommended, the regional water plans must also document the reasons why not.

The TWDB supports conservation efforts and will continue to make an effort to disseminate relevant conservation information to planning groups for their consideration. TWDB rules (31 TAC §357.34(g)) require that RWPGs consider water conservation practices, including best management practices, for each identified water need. If water conservation strategies are not recommended to meet an identified need, the planning group must document the reason in the regional water plan. RWPGs are required to meet the planning requirements in statute, rule, and by contract and, in doing so, the decision whether to recommend conservation strategies is the responsibility of the planning group.

Conservation projects may be funded through a variety of the TWDB’s funding programs. More information on funding opportunities may be found on the Financial Assistance Programs page.

The 2022 State Water Plan includes a chapter dedicated to discussing implementation of recommended projects in the previous state water plan (Chapter 10). Table 10.1 provides a list of projects that have been funded from the 2016 regional water plans/2017 State Water Plan, the type of financial program utilized, the closed loan amount, and the associated volume of annual water supply.

The development of regional water supply or regional management of water supply facilities is a potentially feasible water management strategy that must be considered in accordance with TWC §16.053(e)(5). The decision whether to recommend a particular water management strategy or water management strategy project is the responsibility of the RWPGs.

A water management strategy project must be recommended in the most recent state water plan in order to be eligible for funding in the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas (SWIFT) program. For all other TWDB funding programs, it is not a requirement for the strategy or project to be recommended in the plan, however the strategy or project must address needs in a manner that is consistent with the state water plan. Generally, this means that the water supply source planned for the entity in the regional plan is in alignment with the project sponsor’s source of supply listed in the application, and that the project does not meet needs that were not met in the adopted regional and state water plans.

Projects determined to not be consistent with the regional and state water plans will not be eligible for TWDB funding, unless the applicant pursues a regional water plan amendment, or the TWDB Board grants a consistency waiver. The TWDB does not provide guidance on which option an applicant should pursue. The applicant must coordinate with their RWPG to determine which option to proceed with. More information on the regional water plan amendment process can be found here, and more information on consistency waivers can be found here.