Lawmakers approved $4.5 million in 2015 that allowed researchers to develop a comprehensive network called TexNet, of which $2.47 went for equipment and the rest to study results, according to a report in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The research followed a series of temblors in North Texas in 2015, including one that registered 4.0 magnitude.
“We have to fund the BEG and fund the science in order to evaluate the data that the TexNet system gathers,” said state Rep. Drew Darby, chairman of the House Energy Resources Committee. Darby also said that there are “budget vultures,” who “look to pick apart what they consider nonessential services.”
Scott Tinker, a geologist and director of the BEG, said that the money for TexNet would be used through the next two years for groundbreaking research and that a completed system would comprise 22 permanent seismographs.
