Funding to the tune of $4 million has been secured for the upgrade of a desalination plant that serves the Fort Bliss military base.
The funding is coming through a grant provided by Texas Military Preparedness Commission and will specifically go towards expanding water capacity at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant.
The plant not only serves the water needs of the giant base, but also all of metro El Paso.
In a statement, Texas State Senator Cesar Blanco, whose district includes Fort Bliss, remarked that “expanding capacity at the desalination plant is a practical, forward-looking solution that benefits both our military partners and our broader community.”
The Hutchison plant is located at 10751 Montana Avenue and is the largest such plant of its kind in the country, capable of producing upwards of 27.5 million gallons of fresh water daily.
The facility’s desalination process removes from the water both salt and other potential pollutants and by so doing converts it into drinkable tap water.
The plant, named in honor of the first woman from Texas to serve in the U.S. Senate, was built at a cost of around $90 million and completed in 2007.
Funding for the desalination expansion work is more specifically coming through the Texas Military Preparedness Commission’s Defense Economic Adjustment Assistance grant program. Grants in that program range in size from $50,000 to $5 million and are all designed to support military base infrastructure initiatives.
May 4, 2026
By Garry Boulard
Vintage 1940s postcard of Fort Bliss
