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Water

Austin's water reuse program is moving forward, but slowly

Austin adopted what were called “historic” water reuse regulations a year ago, so the program is still in its infancy, especially compared with Los Angeles and San Francisco, which adopted regulations requiring builders to put in the necessary plumbing to…

Water • By Jo Clifton • Mar 14, 2025

Lady Bird Lake’s water levels dropped (again), raising questions about dam’s integrity

If you went out for a walk along Lady Bird Lake on Tuesday afternoon you might have noticed the water level was lower than usual. Muddy stretches of bank extended farther toward the center of the lake. The smell wasn’t…

Water • By Mose Buchele, KUT • Jan 30, 2025

Austin drinking water testing shows 'forever chemical' levels safer than EPA standards

Austin Water has reported that the city’s public drinking water contains little to no traces of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly called “forever chemicals” because of their persistence. The Water and Wastewater Commission received a briefing from water quality…

Environment • By Hunter Simmons • Dec 6, 2024

Council approves updated Water Forward, Conservation and Drought Contingency plans

On Thursday, City Council approved updates to Austin’s Water Forward Plan and to the related Conservation and Drought Contingency plans. Water Forward, Austin’s 100-year integrated water resource plan, was first adopted by the city in 2018, after the record-breaking, nearly…

Water • By Mina Shekarchi • Nov 22, 2024

Council slated to approve updates to Water Forward Plan and to Austin Water’s Conservation and Drought Contingency plans

This month, City Council will vote on proposed updates to Austin’s Water Forward Plan and to the related Water Conservation and Drought Contingency plans. During a briefing on Oct. 22, Austin Water Director Shay Ralls Roalson presented an overview of…

Water • By Mina Shekarchi • Nov 5, 2024

Council nearly doubles payment to build water system for disannexed project

City Council has agreed to more than double its contribution toward a water infrastructure project that will service a project that recently disannexed from the western city limits. The unanimous approval of an amendment to the cost participation agreement between…

Water • By Chad Swiatecki • Oct 14, 2024

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Austin is way ahead of the curve on federal effort to replace lead pipes

On the same day the Biden administration set a 10-year deadline for U.S. cities to remove all lead pipes, Austin announced that the city is officially 100 percent free of lead contamination in its public water system. “I am proud of…

Water • By Lina Fisher • Oct 11, 2024

A malfunction at Longhorn Dam that caused Lady Bird Lake to lose water has been fixed

If you happened to be near Austin’s Lady Bird Lake on Monday, you might have noticed it looked different. The lake level, which usually stays constant year-round, had dropped by about 2 feet, exposing stretches of muddy, sometimes smelly, shoreline.…

Water • By Mose Buchele, KUT • Oct 9, 2024

Report looks at Austin Water leaks, losses that could fill 12,000 Olympic pools

Leaks and inefficiencies throughout the local water system cause Austin Water to lose more than 8 billion gallons per year – enough to fill 12,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The loss totals were some of the findings from a recent outside…

Water • By Chad Swiatecki • Oct 8, 2024

Austin said a report on water utility leaks would be final months ago. It's still not public.

Austin has a leaky pipe problem. The city’s water utility estimates it loses about 21 gallons of water per resident per day from leaks and breaks in the system. Last year that added up to over 7 billion gallons of treated…

Water • By Mose Buchele, KUT • Sep 19, 2024

Austin exploring new ways to look at water quality

A discussion at the most recent meeting of the Environmental Commission revealed that the city is in the process of creating a new way to explain and track how policy decisions impact water quality in Austin. Since 1994, the Watershed…

Water • By Elizabeth Pagano • Aug 16, 2024

Commission drills down on what disannexation could mean for area water quality

Though the city’s current water quality monitoring system has been in place for an impressive 30 years, changes at the state Legislature mean a change at the city level as well. Andrew Clamann, who works for the Watershed Protection Department…

Water • By Elizabeth Pagano • Aug 13, 2024

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