By KRWG News
Texas – The Texas Water Development Board has approved the latest plan to help the state meet its water needs through 2060.
The challenge is especially acute given that Texas continues to suffer through its worst single-year drought on record.
Board members Thursday passed the 2012 installment of a report that is released every five years. It says Texas' population may grow 82 percent by 2060, increasing water demand 22 percent while supply drops 10 percent.
The report calls for implementing $53 billion in infrastructure projects and conservation efforts but has little power to implement them.
It says failure to meet future water needs could cost Texas $11.9 billion per year if the current drought approaches the state's worst on record in the 1950s, and up to $115.7 billion annually by 2060.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.