Texas: $20 billion Maxi Water Infrastructure Plan against Water Crisis

Drop by drop, the United States’ water network loses the equivalent of over 50 million Olympic-sized swimming pools every year. This figure, reported in the Infrastructure Report Card 2025 by the American Society of Civil Engineers, reflects a recurring situation triggered by the arrival of hot seasons and the water scarcity phenomenon, especially severe in states like Texas.

Here, for instance, in the last five years the number of “limited or rationed consumption” water supply networks has risen from 46 to 571. The resulting impact has affected around 6.4 million people: roughly one in five Texans is directly affected by the aging of water infrastructure in the region they live in.

For this reason, the Texas Legislature has just approved two bills to allocate $20 billion to address an imminent water crisis.

The funds would be used for the repair of water supply networks, conservation and flood mitigation works, and seawater desalination projects.

According to The Texas Tribune, Texas voters will be called to vote on this funding next fall, which represents an important first step toward restoring the state’s water supply system.

The announced funds are a good starting point, but not sufficient to resolve Texas’ water crisis.

According to the nonprofit organization Texas 2036, the state would need to invest $154 billion in water infrastructure by 2050, including $59 billion for water supply projects, $74 billion for pipeline repairs and maintenance, and $21 billion to fix wastewater treatment plants.

One of the major projects in the United States to tackle water crises and safeguard water resources is the Lake Mead Intake Hydraulic Tunnel in Las Vegas.

Strategically located on the bottom of Lake Mead, the largest artificial reservoir in the U.S., this hydraulic engineering project—built by Webuild—helps counteract the ongoing water scarcity in the Colorado River basin, ensuring potable water supply to nearly 2 million residents in the surrounding area.

The project consists of a complex system for the intake and transport of lake water to increase potable water and domestic water supply by 4.5 million cubic meters per day.

Also in the United States, Webuild and its subsidiary Lane Construction are completing the Northeast Boundary Tunnel (NEBT) in Washington, D.C. to rehabilitate the water system around the capital.

A key part of DC Water’s “Clean Rivers” project, the NEBT is a tunnel capable of increasing the capacity of the current city sewer system and reducing the frequency, intensity, and impact of floods, while improving the water quality of the Anacostia River.

Finally, in Buenos Aires, the Riachuelo System has just been activated—the largest wastewater treatment system in Latin America. The mega facility will clean wastewater from the Riachuelo River, one of the most polluted in South America, benefiting over 4 million people across 14 municipalities.

The project consists of three sections, one built by Webuild and another by its subsidiary Fisia Italimpianti, featuring a next-generation facility for the pretreatment of wastewater.

Overall, the system can treat 2.3 million cubic meters of wastewater per day, with an average flow capacity of 27 cubic meters per second.