The Texas Water Development Board will hold a work session Nov. 4 on the changes it intends to make to the state water plan before a December vote, and on what it will ask the Legislature for in 2027. The notice says no final action will be taken on either.
The state water plan is the document that decides which reservoirs, pipelines and treatment projects are eligible for state financing. Regional groups write the pieces and the board stitches them together every five years. The board adopted the first half of the 2027 plan on July 23, on a compressed schedule so that this year’s round of state water financing could go forward. The fuller version — Amendment No. 1, which the agency calls Phase II — went out for comment in September, drew a hearing in Austin on Sept. 24 and closed to written comment the next day. What staff heard, and what it proposes to change in response, is the first thing on this agenda. The board is tentatively set to adopt the amendment in December.
The legislative item is the board’s first public airing of what it wants from the 90th Legislature, which convenes in January 2027. Next to it sits the biennial report on seawater and brackish groundwater desalination, which the agency owes lawmakers each session. Desalination has been a standing legislative interest as the Permian Basin and the coast look for supplies that do not depend on rain.
The fourth item is the spending plan for next year’s federal money to replace lead drinking-water pipes — the annual document that sets which cities and water systems get loans and grants from the federal-state revolving fund, and on what terms. It is one of the few places the public sees how that money is ranked and allotted. The board also takes a standing update on its financial programs, likewise with no final action.
Public comment is item three and covers anything in the board’s charge, apart from matters barred by the state rule against one-sided contact in pending cases. Visitors who want to address the board in person must fill out the online registration form and email it to the agency by 8:30 a.m. Nov. 4. A closed session may be called on any item.
Meeting at a glance
- When
- 9:30 AM, Wednesday, November 4, 2026. The agenda heading says 9:30 a.m.; the Secretary of State listing gives 9:36 a.m. TRD 2026006381 was filed October 27 at 11:30 a.m.
- Where
- 1601 Congress Ave., Barbara Jordan Building, Room 2.029, Austin.
- Governing body & chair
- Texas Water Development Board — three full-time members appointed by the governor. Chairwoman L’Oreal Stepney. Bryan McMath is executive administrator.
- Format
- Work session, four numbered items: an executive administrator’s update carrying four topics, a financial programs update, public comment and a possible closed session. No final action on the first two.
- Live video
- The notice offers no stream, no webinar and no call-in number, and directs the public to the agency’s website. The Dispatch could not confirm whether the session will be webcast.
- Full agenda
- Secretary of State Open Meeting Viewer · agency board page
Board members
- L’Oreal Stepney, P.E. — chairwoman; Pflugerville; engineer; term to February 1, 2029.
- W. Brady Franks — Austin; former state budget director; term to February 1, 2031.
- Ashley Morgan — Georgetown; attorney; term expires February 1, 2027.
Names, cities and terms are from the board’s roster page, checked October 16, which shows no vacancy and matches the governor’s appointment releases for Stepney as chairwoman in January 2025, Franks in September 2025 and Morgan in October 2025. No appointment release later than October 2025 was found for this board. McMath’s status is from the agency’s executive administrator page, which notes no interim or acting designation. Meeting contact: Kathleen Ligon, assistant executive administrator, (512) 463-8294.