In October 2024, Brownsville Mayor John Cowen was seeking additional federal funding for the city's desalination plant, the Rio Grande Guardian reported. After meetings in Washington in June, officials from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation had visited Brownsville to learn about the project. Cowen put the optimisation and expansion of the plant at about 253 million dollars, compared with roughly 30 million dollars when it was built. He also hoped for state funding, saying the Texas legislature would focus on water in its next session.
The report showed how much desalination costs in the Rio Grande Valley had risen, according to Cowen, and how local governments there relied on federal and state money to expand existing plants.
Source: Rio Grande Guardian