Austin Water and Watershed Protection Department seeking small rate hikes

Neither Austin Water nor the Watershed Protection Department have asked for an increase in their rates in many years, but both are doing so in the upcoming budget.

Austin Water has not asked for an increase in its rates since 2017, but this year, the utility is seeking City Council approval to increase the typical water user’s monthly bill by about $2.65. One reason for that: Austin Water, like many other departments and private companies, is facing rising costs for the chemicals it uses in water and wastewater treatment processes.

The utility is also planning to hire an additional 20 employees for operations and facility safety, customer relations, the Water Forward plan, and operating lift stations and remote facilities.

Austin Water Director Shay Roalson told Council during the budget meeting Tuesday that the department’s record in fixing leaks has improved considerably. At one point, Austin Water was experiencing a break rate greater than the industry average, she said, and now the number has fallen to well below that.

The utility proposes to spend $19.9 million this year to address its aging infrastructure and deteriorating assets at the South Austin Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant. The total cost is projected to be nearly $152 million, according to city budget documents.

In addition to shoring up the deteriorating infrastructure at the South Austin plant, the utility is proposing to increase the capacity of the Walnut Creek wastewater treatment plant from 75 million gallons per day to 100 million gallons per day. The total cost of this project is estimated to be $870 million, but this year’s capital improvements spending plan only calls for an additional $17.3 million.

Council Member Ryan Alter asked Roalson what parts of the budget were related to leak detection. Roalson said the utility has a leak detection and water loss control program, which involves a number of different strategies, including running leak detection sensors through water pipes. The utility can then repair those leaks.

“We also have a performance indicator for our response time on leaks reported into dispatch,” she said. In the future, customers will be able to see leaks in near-real time as a result of the digital metering system, Roalson said.

It has been eight years since the Watershed Protection Department – responsible for taking care of Austin’s creeks and reducing the impact of erosion, water pollution and flooding – has asked for a rate increase. The department is seeking an increase of 37 cents a month from Austin ratepayers. So, the monthly drainage utility fee will increase from $11.80 per month to $12.17 per month.

A spokesperson for Watershed Protection told the Austin Monitor, “The City’s drainage charge is based on the amount and percent of impervious cover per parcel. If residents or commercial properties build out to the maximum allowable impervious cover over time, then the delta of revenue annually from new impervious cover begins to flatten. Therefore, we begin to see a need to adjust the base rate of the drainage charge in order to have our revenue meet the growing needs of Austin. Watershed adopted a new methodology to calculate the drainage charge in (October 2015, during Fiscal Year 2016) and we have not raised our rates since that time.”

The department is asking for a $1 million increase in its budget for vegetation and creek cleanup contract costs. Additionally, the department is looking to hire 11 more employees dedicated to critical initiatives, including creek cleanup, pond maintenance and storm drain modeling.

Watershed Protection plans to spend $14 million for a project called The Confluence at Waller Creek. The project’s total cost is expected to be more than $90 million. Also, the department plans to spend $12.3 million this year for channel stabilization at Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Metro Park. The total cost of that project is expected to be $33.5 million.

In addition, the department will spend $4.3 million for Little Walnut Creek between Metric Boulevard and Rutland Drive. The total cost is estimated to be $36.1 million. Finally, residents of the Oak Knoll area will likely be pleased to hear the department plans to spend $2 million to upgrade the drainage infrastructure this year. The total cost of that project is estimated at $11.9 million.

In a written budget question, Council Member Chito Vela wanted to know whether there was funding set aside in the department’s budget for creek cleanup, “for Mearns Meadow and others.” According to the department, “Our portfolio of resources includes internal and external partners: in-house crews, outside vegetation management contractors and providers, and public-private partnerships.”

The response continued, “The department’s total budget for maintaining our open waterways, open lands, and storm water control features is approximately $14 million for FY24.” The department added, “the Mearns Meadow area in the Little Walnut Creek watershed is part of WPD’s annual and ongoing Citywide Vegetation Control Program so contractors visit there three to six times a year to perform maintenance. WPD also sends teams to inspect and create work orders responding to various queries, including 311 calls and other resident requests. We will also perform pre- and post-storm inspections after significant high intensity storm events in known hotspots such as Mearns Meadow.”

The memo noted that department crews have been to Mearns Meadow and surrounding areas 20 times between Jan. 1 and Aug. 1.

Photo by tookapic from Pixabay, made available through a Creative Commons license.

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