As the New Year begins, the U.S. Census Bureau projected that our nation’s population has soared to 303.1 million, up 2.8 million from its estimate in early 2007. From July 2006 to July 2007, Texas gained almost 500,000 new residents.

Former Texas demographer Dr. Steven Murdock, who was recently approved by Congress to head the Census Bureau, quipped, “Growth is a double-edged sword. With challenges come opportunities. The key is to have the opportunities be greater than the challenges.”

In Texas, a rapid and widespread growth trend continues to gain momentum. Since 1994 Texas has been the second most populous state in the country, surpassing New York. The Census Bureau estimates place three Texas cities among the top ten numeric gainers between 2000 and 2006, with Houston showing the third-largest increase in population, San Antonio the fifth, and Fort Worth the sixth. Among cities with a population of more than 100,000, McKinney was the fastest growing community in the country, with a 97.6 percent population growth rate between April 2000 and July 2006.

Such growth creates opportunities for increased state revenue and economic advancement. It is critical that our state’s education, transportation, infrastructure, and social services keep pace. We do not want to see our state become overburdened by the challenges that accompany accelerated growth.

Across the state, communities are grappling with growing pains, but we have seen a wide range of successful public/private partnerships and local projects to directly address local problems.

In Austin, city officials have responded to rapid growth by proposing a light rail plan for Central Texas which was recently approved by the voters. The Capitol MetroRail will transport urban commuters in the fall of 2008 and is currently undergoing testing for safety. This system is one part of a three-step strategy to reduce congestion on Interstate 35, improve freight mobility, speed NAFTA trade between Laredo and Dallas and spur economic development in the Austin-San Antonio Corridor.

San Antonio, now the second-largest city in Texas, has become widely known as “Military City, U.S.A.” for being home to more active duty military personnel than any other city. Since the Base Realignment and Closure process ended, we have worked very closely to ensure San Antonio’s future role in our military and have established it as one of the great places in America for veterans’ health care.

In September, I joined with local officials to announce that a new $67 million Level One Polytrauma Center will be built at the Audie Murphy VA Hospital campus, the fifth of its kind in the country. It will be one of the most advanced hospitals for veterans, charged with addressing the specific needs of service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

El Paso has been working for many years to address a critical water shortage that could have threatened its future. Water is critical for economic development and future growth. In August, I attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a state-of-the-art desalination plant that will supply 27.5 million gallons of water, part of an aggressive 50-year conservation plan in response to severe droughts and a diminishing underground water supply.

The success of this facility, the largest inland desalination plant in the world, played a major role in creating the environment necessary for El Paso’s Fort Bliss to increase its size with over 9,000 new troops as part of the “Grow the Army” initiative.

These examples represent only some of the best ideas, born at the local level, carried out through the cooperation of city, county, state, and federal officials, and in many cases funded in large part by the federal government.

Looking forward, the state of Texas will face major challenges, including addressing the more than 5.5 million uninsured, increasing the state’s use of available Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funding, improving our public education system, working to create new tier one institutions among our public colleges and universities, ensuring that Texas leads the nation in meeting our domestic energy needs, and securing our long international border with Mexico.

Kay Bailey Hutchinson is the senior U.S. senator from the state of Texas. Contact her local offices at 145 Duncan Drive, Suite 120, San Antonio, Texas 78226 or by telephone at 340-2885.