A $213 million project aiming to bring water from Caldwell County to the cities of San Marcos, Kyle, Buda and other areas along the I-35 corridor took a step forward yesterday.

On Thursday, the Texas Water Development Board approved a commitment to provide $213 million of funding through the State Water Implementation Fund of Texas, or SWIFT, to the Alliance Regional Water Authority, formerly known as the Hays Caldwell Public Utility Agency.

The ultimate goal of the project will be to supply up to 27 million gallons of water per day to high-growth areas along the I-35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio. The water authority has groundwater permits to pump the water from the Carrizo Wilcox Aquifer in Caldwell County.

“This is the kind of stuff SWIFT was built to incentivize and encourage,” Board Member Peter Lake said.

The SWIFT loans will be repaid through the water rates of the members of the water authority, including the cities of San Marcos, Kyle and Buda, as well as the Canyon Regional Water Authority.

ARWA General Manager Graham Moore said the TWDB resolution committing funding to the project is an important step. The funding will be supplied to the water authority in three stages over the next four years.

The water authority expects to begin delivering water to the I-35 corridor by 2023. Design and easement acquisition for the pipeline to transmit the water will begin in 2018, Moore said.