Infrastructure panelists ponder tactics for stretching Austin’s existing water supply

Facing limited prospects for new water sources, Austin officials are advancing a broad strategy centered on water reuse, conservation and storage to meet the city’s long-term needs. At a recent infrastructure summit hosted by the Austin Chamber of Commerce, water planners described an array of initiatives designed to extend the capacity of Austin’s existing supply as the population continues to grow.

Director of Austin Water Shay Ralls Roalson told attendees that Austin Water is leaning heavily on conservation and expanding its reclaimed water system, which repurposes highly treated wastewater for nonpotable uses such as irrigation and toilet flushing. Large developments are now required to install on-site systems to capture rainwater and air conditioning condensate for reuse, reducing demand on the potable water system.

Roalson said the conservation approach forms the foundation of Austin’s 100-year water plan, since new water supplies are expected to become more scarce and expensive as more residents and resource-intensive businesses move into the area.

Among other tactics, the city is exploring aquifer storage and recovery to store excess water underground during times of surplus and retrieve it during drought conditions. Officials are also studying the potential of converting Lake Walter E. Long into a reservoir to store Colorado River water and pursuing indirect potable reuse, a process that would return treated wastewater to Lady Bird Lake, where it would be retreated and added to the drinking water supply.

These combined efforts, according to city planners, are expected to extend Austin’s existing water supply for the next 40 to 50 years. Only after that point would the city need to pursue entirely new sources, such as groundwater desalination, which remains part of the long-term planning horizon.

“We’re really driving forward with these principles of being thoughtful about how we use water,” she said. “If we do all of these things and stretch the supplies we already have, we don’t need new supplies for another 40 to 50 years.”

Statewide, the challenges mirror those in Austin. The Texas Water Development Board’s 2022 plan estimated the need for $80 billion to fund more than 2,100 water projects designed to meet future demand and ensure resilience during drought. Early projections for the next plan, due in 2027, have increased that figure to roughly $155 billion, driven by rising construction costs, labor shortages and higher interest rates.

Texas lawmakers have allocated additional funds toward water infrastructure, including $2.5 billion in a supplemental budget measure and a proposed $1 billion through a constitutional amendment. However, these contributions represent only a fraction of the projected statewide need. Existing funding programs, including state revolving funds for drinking water and clean water infrastructure, remain heavily oversubscribed.

Travis County alone is expected to see water infrastructure costs climb from an earlier estimate of $3.4 billion to $16.6 billion. And Austin Water recently increased its own five-year capital improvement plan from $1.4 billion to $2.3 billion to help address future needs.

Brooke Paup, chair of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, said water-related permitting has surged, alongside other environmental reviews. Agency leaders acknowledged a staffing shortfall and have requested funding for more than 190 additional full-time employees to help process applications and maintain public health protections.

Panelists discussed how private investment is emerging as a growing factor in water infrastructure development, as private capital increasingly funds large-scale projects that were once the sole domain of public utilities. Projects like the water treatment facilities for the Samsung semiconductor plant in Taylor were fully financed through private debt and equity, bypassing some of the constraints of public funding but typically at a higher cost due to assumed project risks.

“Public debt is cheap because it’s not tied to performance risk. A city can borrow $1 billion for new water treatment or a new water supply project and if that project never delivers a drop of water, those ratepayers are still on the dime for repaying every dollar of that billion-dollar loan,” said Michael Irlbeck, director of business development for EPCOR, which financed the Samsung water project in Taylor. “When we invest and develop a project, we only get paid if it performs according to the contract. If it doesn’t, the customer doesn’t pay, the ratepayers don’t pay.”

Photo by Jack Newton [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

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