Amid a second year of drought restrictions, city leaders are navigating community debates about whether water conservation goals are aggressive enough.
In a presentation to the City Council’s Climate, Water, Environment, and Parks Committee, Austin Water shared its first quarterly progress report following updates to the city’s Water Forward, Drought Contingency, and Conservation plans last November. Water advocates have previously raised concerns that the conservation targets in the plans do not go far enough as the city faces climate change and increasingly severe droughts.
Austin has been under Stage 2 drought restrictions since August of 2023. Austin Water Assistant Director Kevin Critendon noted that the recent heavy rainfall, which led to disastrous flooding in Kerrville and parts of the Austin area, had somewhat replenished water storage. “But in the… context of 100-year water supply planning, you know, this is in fact a marathon and not a sprint,” he added.
Austin Water Director Director Shay Ralls Roalson, who has overseen the utility since shortly after Winter Storm Uri, spoke to the city’s ongoing restructuring around emergency preparedness and conservation strategies.
“One of the big conversations that we had last fall was…‘How do we drive down our gallons per capita per day (GPCD)?’” she said. The plan updates in November launched a five-year conservation goal to decrease community-wide water use to 119 GPCD. In both 2023 and 2024, Austin averaged 130 GPCD.
“We are not alone, certainly across Texas, in seeing water demand sort of… plateau,” said Roalson. “That is very concerning.”
One mechanism to reduce community-wide water use is addressing leaks in the water system. An external audit last year revealed that Austin’s infrastructure leakage index rose significantly between 2023 and 2024. Roalson attributed part of this increase to an “accounting issue,” highlighting improved metering at plants that shows more water entering the water system than previously calculated.
Roalson also acknowledged some infrastructural issues contributing to the leaks. Polybutylene piping gained popularity in the 1980s and has been used in many of Austin’s water service lines.
“Over the course of time, that material has not held up, and we have a lot of it. …We have been prioritizing getting that material out of our service system for some time,” she said. Roalson added that Austin Water’s Renewing Austin program, which replaces poorly performing pipes, has improved the city’s water main break rate from “above industry average” to “better than optimized”.
Since AW’s implementation of smart water meters, customers are also able to sign up for notifications that may indicate leaks to mitigate their water loss. The utility offers adjustments for high bills once the leaks are repaired.
City leaders believe irrigation management is another vehicle to bolster conservation efforts. Water Conservation Division Manager Kevin Kluge said that Austin Water has begun inspecting new irrigation systems to reinforce efficient water use at the residential level. AW is also exploring options to boost compliance around lawn watering restrictions, including a potential defensive-driving style course for violators. The utility is currently piloting using its new smart water metering system to notify customers when they are watering outside of their assigned schedules.
Austin Water has also seen increased interest in some of its voluntary programs. Applications to AW’s WaterWise Landscape and Rainscape rebate programs increased by 900 and 350 percent respectively from early 2024 to early 2025.
Kluge highlighted some progress with the city’s reclaimed water and onsite water reuse initiatives, which the City Council voted to expand in 2024. These systems involve recycling wastewater to be reused for non-potable purposes, like toilet flushing, irrigation, and cooling. AW has launched five projects to expand its reclaimed water system. The utility also completed a feasibility study earlier this year to explore full subsidies for connections, dual plumbing and reuse systems for deeply affordable housing projects. Kluge said developers have shown interest in partnering with AW to implement subsidies for these systems.
In addition to short-term conservation efforts, the utility continues to advance long-range projects to diversify and secure Austin’s future water supply. Key strategies identified in the Water Forward Plan include:
- Aquifer storage and recovery – storing treated water underground for use during droughts
- Indirect potable reuse – treating wastewater through multiple processes until it’s safe for consumption
- Potential use of the Walter E. Long reservoir as an off-channel supplement to Austin’s water supply
Kluge said the utility will have significant updates on these plans in future quarterly reports.
Council Member and committee chair Ryan Alter pointed to the city’s tiered water rate structure as a strong motivator for conservation. “Education is great but… the thing that really moves the needle for people is that monthly bill,” he said.
Roalson affirmed that the utility is using everything at its disposal: “We are going to do all of the things and incentivize and disincentivize people with every tool that we have.”
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