Rising pressure on local water infrastructure, with prolonged drought, declining inflows and rapid population growth were the focus of a recent Urban Land Institute Austin panel. Speakers called attention to ongoing water policy shortfalls at the state and local levels and warned that continued development could outpace available supply unless legislative and planning reforms are adopted.
Even with the heavy rains in July, the panelists stressed that much of the region is still in a drought, with water runoff levels 30 to 50 percent lower than usual.
Dave Stauch, president of the Central Texas Water Coalition, said one contributor to the drop in inflows to reservoirs is the sharp increase in permit-exempt ponds with over 44,000 counted in the Upper Basin. He said current modeling underestimates these impacts, and called for mandatory pond registration to improve forecasting.
Stauch and others lamented the failure of several water-related bills during this past regular Texas legislative session, including:
- HB 3106, which would allow regional groups to set aside water for drought reserves
- HB 3995, encouraging drought-resilient landscaping practices
- HB 2422, requiring water source disclosure in home sales
All three were either stalled in committee or died due to session deadlines.
Panelists urged attendees to vote in favor of Proposition 6 in the upcoming November election, which would direct new state funds to water infrastructure, reuse, and supply projects. There was discussion over the concern that rural-urban water disputes, especially over East Texas groundwater, could weaken support for the measure.
The Austin region’s official Water Management Plan, governed by the Lower Colorado River Authority, is updated only every five to seven years, which all agreed is far too slow given how quickly climate and growth patterns are changing.
Stauch noted that the minimum storage threshold for the Highland Lakes that was set in 1991 remains unchanged, despite the population quadrupling since then.
“Another thing we need to do is increase the triggers on the releases downstream… when I say downstream, those are for (agricultural) uses and environmental flows into the bay,” he said, advocating for a 750,000 acre-foot protected reserve.
Pflugerville City Manager Sereniah Breland said her city is investing $270 million in new water infrastructure, including a new treatment plant and intake from the Colorado River. She said the city is grappling with how to fund growth without overburdening ratepayers, citing direct potable reuse and reclaimed water strategies as necessary to stretch local water supplies.
Panelists agreed that water availability is becoming a gating issue for new development, even if not always explicitly acknowledged.
“We’ve reached the point where developers are asking cities: ‘Do you have water for this project?’” Breland said. She said Pflugerville uses master planning assumptions but often finds that real-world demand far exceeds forecasts.
In areas like New Braunfels, Stauch said, projects are already being rejected due to water limitations, and that trend may spread unless regions adopt reuse systems, onsite treatment or tiered pricing to conserve supply.
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