Water security around Del Rio and Laughlin Air Force Base is getting a serious cash infusion. Governor Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that the Texas Military Preparedness Commission has closed a $17 million loan to the City of Del Rio to shore up local water infrastructure. The funding will rehabilitate the San Felipe East Springs containment wall and expand and modernize the city’s water treatment plant. Officials say the paired projects are expected to add resiliency to water capacity for both Del Rio and Laughlin Air Force Base.
In a press release from the Office of the Texas Governor, Abbott and the Texas Military Preparedness Commission confirmed that the commission closed on the $17 million loan through the Texas Military Value Revolving Loan Fund. The announcement also went up on X via GovAbbottPress. “These funds will strengthen the local community, support mission readiness at Laughlin, and advance our commitment to a strong military community across Texas,” Abbott said in the release.
Two Projects the Loan Will Cover
The loan is aimed at two immediate priorities: stabilizing the East Spring containment wall and expanding Del Rio’s municipal water treatment plant. The San Felipe East Springs containment wall has been labeled structurally vulnerable after years of erosion and major floods, according to city planning materials reported by Del Rio News. On the plant side, the Texas Water Development Board signed off in July on a SWIFT package that includes money to add a membrane filtration system and increase capacity from about 18.2 million gallons per day to roughly 22.4 million gallons per day, according to the Texas Water Development Board. That work dovetails with the new loan.
Why Laughlin Depends on Del Rio’s Plant
Del Rio’s treatment plant supplies both city customers and Laughlin Air Force Base. The city’s own web page notes that the plant’s goal is to provide finished water quality for “the City of Del Rio and Laughlin Air Force Base.” That shared supply is why state officials framed the projects as directly tied to base mission readiness in the loan announcement.
How the Loan Works and What Happens Next
The Texas Military Value Revolving Loan Fund offers low-cost financing to defense communities and is backed by the sale of general obligation bonds, according to the state’s Texas Military Value Revolving Loan Fund page. With the Texas Military Preparedness Commission having closed on Del Rio’s loan, city officials can move into design and contracting, and local leaders have urged expedited engineering so the projects can be built quickly, local reporting shows.
State officials did not spell out a detailed construction timetable in the release. The city is expected to outline schedules as engineering work is completed and contracts are awarded. For Del Rio and Laughlin, the loan is positioned as another piece in a broader effort to strengthen water security for a community that serves both residents and an active military installation.
