Commissioner Miller Announces More Than $100,000 in Drought Relief Funds for Real County (7/23/2015)

AUSTIN - Reservoirs across Texas may be filling up, but the scars of the historic multiyear drought are still present across the state. Through the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), the Texas Department of Agriculture is helping communities recover from the natural disasters. Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller announced the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) has awarded $103,094 to Real County for local water system infrastructure improvements.   

“Despite being blessed with rain, our water issues have not gone away,” Commissioner Miller said. “This is an excellent example of how we can solve Texas-sized challenges by properly channeling our state’s resources. Clean, available water is a vital resource for every community. Now is the time for our state to plan for its future water needs, so we aren’t left high and dry in the future.”

Due to drought conditions, the production capacity of a public water well serving a portion of Real County’s residents has dramatically decreased. This has the potential to leave residents without a source of water. The drought relief funds will be used to connect the water well to a neighboring water system and provide residents with an additional source of water.

The grant award dollars come from the Texas Community Development Block Grant (TxCDBG) – Disaster Relief Fund. While drought conditions across Texas look significantly different than three months ago, the Lone Star State is not out of the woods when it comes to water needs and planning for the future. TDA created an Office of Water within the agency to help ensure that the needs of rural Texas are met when it comes to water.

As part of TDA’s efforts to support, protect and grow rural Texas, TDA administers CDBG relief grants to provide financial assistance to eligible communities named in a disaster declaration by the governor or president. The funds may be used to restore infrastructure damaged by natural disasters or, in the case of drought, to install new facilities that resolve a primary drinking water supply shortage.  

Federally funded through the TxCDBG program, DRF provides grant assistance to eligible communities to help alleviate the effects of a natural disaster through debris removal, infrastructure repairs and improvements.