Experts on water supply are convening this week in Fort Worth for the state water conference.
The conference comes one month before the Texas Water Development Board presents its final five-year state water plan. The plan is still in development, and it is in the public comment period.
Once the plan is finalized, it goes to the state legislature and the governor.
Bech Bruun, chairman of the Texas Water Development Board, spoke Wednesday about the water needs in Dallas-Fort Worth.
"This is one of, if not the fastest growing part of the state. Our state water plan projects this region to nearly double in population between now and the year 2070," Bruun said.
Bruun said plans are already underway in North Texas. Construction has begun on an integrated pipeline, which will transport water from Lake Palestine.
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The board is planning at a time when lake levels are higher than they have been in years, after a rain-soaked summer of 2015. But Bruun is thinking cautiously.
"Texas is famous for drought. It has been said Texas is a state with perennial drought that is interrupted by the occasional devastating flood. We know history will repeat itself," he said.
Bruun said they have learned from the 2011 drought about conservation, which he believes is important today.
As for funding, the cities and counties that take on projects work on securing the funding for them.
