CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Behind closed doors up on the 6th floor of City Hall, was a private meeting between state senators and city leaders.
State Senator Charles Perry asked about the city's desalination project. Perry is the chairman of the senate's water committee and admits the state is way behind on addressing water concerns across the state.
"I think we are ten, 20 years behind on where we should be in this state but the good news is we can go forward pretty quickly and start making changes," said Perry
Perry said his job in the upcoming legislative session is to get the state to fund water projects at an unprecedented level.
"There's going to be an additional water session. We started the conversation last session and it needs to be about funding water similar to what we do with roads and bridges," said Perry.
State Senator Morgan LaMantia said she hoping her fellow lawmakers will sign off on funding water projects instead of handing out low-interest loans.
"But at the state legislature, also making sure we have enough funding from the state to really pay for these projects because even our smaller towns can't do low-interest loans," said LaMantia.
Senator Perry says failing to move water concerns to the top of the state's agenda will have a huge impact on our economy because businesses may look elsewhere.
"If we don't get this started and get this commitment to do it in the next few years those industries are going to take a different viewpoint of Texas and we shouldn't allow that to happen. Shame on us. There's no excuse to be in a situation where companies are looking at us and not coming for fear of no water," said Perry.