Amarillo has secured a $60 million low-interest loan from the Texas Water Development Board, giving the city a major financial boost as it begins planning one of its largest infrastructure projects to date—the expansion of the Hollywood Road Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The funding, approved through the state's Clean Water State Revolving Fund, will pay for the planning and design phase of the project. By using the program, city officials estimate Amarillo will save more than $18 million in financing costs over the life of the 30-year loan.
The expansion comes as the city's aging wastewater system faces increasing demand. The Hollywood Road plant is designed to treat 12 million gallons of wastewater per day but is already processing more than 9 million gallons daily, surpassing 75% of its capacity. Reaching that threshold requires the city to begin planning improvements under Texas Commission on Environmental Quality regulations.
Once completed, the project will increase the plant's treatment capacity to 22 million gallons per day while replacing aging equipment and modernizing critical infrastructure.
Plans call for new solids handling equipment, upgraded clarifiers, pump stations, chemical feed systems, real-time monitoring technology and improvements to the plant's electrical and control systems. The city also plans to develop a comprehensive asset management plan as part of the project.
The overall expansion is expected to cost roughly $1.2 billion, although city officials say the final price won't be known until the design work is complete. Estimates based on similar projects across the country have ranged from $860 million to $1.3 billion.
Assistant City Manager Donny Hooper said securing the competitive state financing was the result of more than a year of work by city employees and consultants.
"We're very proud of our team and what they've done," Hooper said. "This process has involved a tremendous amount of work from both our staff and our consultants to go through all the requirements, which are quite stringent with the Texas Water Development Board, and our staff has actually spent over a year and a half in this process to get to this date where we actually received the notice."
Even as design work moves forward, Hooper said the city will continue looking for ways to reduce the project's overall cost.
"We're going to look at every cost-saving measure that we can absolutely find to make sure that we are saving as much money as we can to bring the cost down in this project," he said.
The Texas Water Development Board also noted Amarillo's strong credit rating during the loan approval process. The city has pledged revenues from its waterworks and sewer system to repay the loan.
Design work is expected to wrap up by June 2028, with construction scheduled to begin in December of that year. The expanded facility is expected to be complete by the end of 2031.
The Hollywood Road project is only part of Amarillo's long-term wastewater improvement plan. The city has also applied for a second $60 million state loan to fund planning and design work for upgrades at the River Road Wastewater Treatment Plant, while continuing to pursue grants and other outside funding to help offset the cost of both projects.
