The projected growth of Central Texas' two largest metro areas is expected to surpass the current populations of Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston.

What’s being referred to as the Austin-San Antonio Metroplex is expected to grow by three million by 2050, Austin ABC affiliate KVUE reported.

“By 2050, the region will have 8.3 million people,” said Henry Cisneros, a former mayor of San Antonio and former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton, at a Texas Tribune event Wednesday. “We're going to grow by three million more people between the northern parts of Austin, through Austin, San Marcos, New Braunfels and San Antonio.”

Cisneros said that population growth of 8.3 million people is larger than the current metro populations of Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

With major population growth expected, leaders say they're going to have to work together to connect the two Central Texas cities. City leaders believe the most obvious way to better connect Austin and San Antonio is to create a high-speed rail.

"That's the kind of big vision that would be a game changer and allow workers and goods to flow between the region,” said Opportunity Austin CEO Ed Latson.

Leaders are also considering the sustainability of the area's water resources. Austin and the surrounding areas have struggled with exceptional drought conditions over the last few years, which have resulted in low lake levels. Leaders say they'll begin looking at more integrated water management systems that would implement more conservation measures and ways to recycle water.

Greater: SATX's Jenna Saucedo-Herrera said that her group conducted research on the target audience moving to the region, finding that the main criteria for them to relocate somewhere was their access to green space.

“These are important things for livability, for people who want to come set up an office park, green space is really important,” said Mike Kamerlander of Greater San Marcos Partnership.

Another concern with a larger population is having enough housing, let alone affordable housing. Leaders say housing supply is an issue, and local governments should attempt to speed up the homebuilding process.

“The best way to affect affordability at scale is to focus on supply,” said New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce's Jonathan Packer.