Texas water officials will start to evaluate applications seeking $5.5 billion for projects as part of the state's water plan.
The Texas Water Development Board on Wednesday announced 48 applications have been received.
The amount sought from the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas, or SWIFT, exceeds the $800 million officials have said would be provided in the first round of funding. The application period closed Tuesday.
The board in coming months will do a comprehensive scoring of all applications using criteria developed through public input last year.
The funding, expected to be $800 million a year for the next 10 years, will be loans -- including low-interest and deferred -- not grants.
Voters in 2013 approved using $2 billion from the state's Rainy Day Fund for water projects.
