AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Gov. Rick Perry has sworn in the first full-time Texas Water Development Board that would oversee a new $2 billion state water fund if approved by voters this November.
Perry said Tuesday the job of the three-member board “is to keep water on their minds” around the clock. They replace a panel of volunteers ousted by the Texas Legislature this spring amid criticism that they worked too slow.
Two of the new board members are former Perry political appointees: former Texas Lottery Commission Chairwoman Mary Ann Williamson, and former Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Commissioner Carlos Rubinstein.
Rounding out the board is Bech Bruun, who is Perry’s former director of appointments.
State officials say voter approval of a new water fund would finance projects for the next 50 years.