The Texas Water Development Board has released the first phase of its 2027 water plan, the document that will guide the state’s water supply planning for the next five years. Water loss reduction projects — repairing leaky water lines, primarily — could help the state significantly improve its water supplies, state water planners said. More broadly, development of surface water continues to account for a dominant share (36 percent) of all future water supply strategies — exceeding development of all other water supply sources combined.” The protection would not prohibit construction of other flood control or water supply mechanisms in those bodies of water. If approved, that would mean Northeast Texas water planners cannot say a conflict exists because of the potential bad effects of a water plan on their district.