On Tuesday, the city of Austin formally asked the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for help in correcting an uptick in permits that allow direct discharge of effluent into the region’s lakes, creeks and streams. In Texas, treated wastewater can be discarded either through direct discharge into creeks or lakes, or through land application, as […]
Water
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LCRA releases new plan to conserve water
Water is about to get more expensive for rice farmers in the Lower Colorado River Basin. That message appears to be the gist of the Lower Colorado River Authority’s new Drought Contingency Plan, which emphasizes conservation in response to the 2011-2015 drought. Because of low water supply, the agency has not provided “interruptible water” from […]
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Committee takes on water restrictions (again)
The battle over whether to loosen or make permanent some current water restrictions played out once again Wednesday at the City Council Public Utilities Committee, as Council Member Don Zimmerman questioned the intent of a recent public survey by Austin Water. According to the survey data (collected at five public meetings held throughout January), roughly […]
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Water commissioners hear bad news about Pilot Knob
In another act in the ongoing drama over the Pilot Knob planned unit development, members of the Water and Wastewater Commission spent an hour-and-a-half Wednesday night trying to understand the implications of the controversial deal between the city and a developer that could cost city agencies over $100 million in lost revenue. “This is a […]
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Council members react to water meter audit
Although Austin Water and Austin Energy staff said at a City Council Public Utilities Committee meeting Wednesday that recent audits found the city’s water billing system to be accurate, the Council members who sit on that body said they still have unresolved concerns. The water meter read and testing audit, performed by independent utility consultant […]
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LCRA lowers water rate for cities, municipalities
The Lower Colorado River Authority is “making it rain” – savings, that is. The river authority’s board of directors approved a proposal on Wednesday to lower water rates for “firm” customers, typically cities and municipalities in Central Texas, starting in January. The measure will undo this year’s drought-related increase, dropping rates from $175 to $145 […]
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Central Texas water management plan updated
The Central Texas drought may continue, but the days of uncertainty about how to handle the water on which Austinites and others depend appear to be over for the foreseeable future. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality approved a major amendment to the Lower Colorado River Authority’s water management plan on Wednesday that sets stricter […]
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City to ask for rehearing in water rate case
The battle over water rates for more than 46,000 Austin Water customers is not over, it appears. Austin Water Assistant Director David Anders told the Austin Monitor on Tuesday that the city intends to adhere to an order – issued earlier this month by the Public Utility Commission of Texas – to reset rates for […]
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Zimmerman water resolution not legal
City Council Member Don Zimmerman has failed in his attempt to give water utility money back to some of the customers who used the most water and had the highest bills during August. Zimmerman had proposed directing the city manager to compare residential and multifamily monthly usage for this year to monthly usage for 2014 […]
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PUC resets rates for thousands of Austin Water customers
More than 46,000 Austin Water customers are getting their rates lowered, based on an order that the Public Utility Commission of Texas handed down to the city of Austin on Thursday. In addition, the city will have to request approval from the commission before setting future rates for the customers involved. The changes apply to […]
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High water bills remain a puzzle (or maybe not)
Although various citizens complained to the Council Public Utilities Committee on Wednesday about their high water bills and the trouble those bills were causing them, there was no aha! moment during which the source of the puzzlingly high water usage was revealed. Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros did explain that water bills spike nearly every August […]
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PUC calls for order to reset certain water rates
The Public Utility Commission of Texas started a process Friday that could ultimately require Austin Water to reset water and wastewater rates for a group of customers that has challenged the city. The commission approved, with some exceptions, a proposal for decision that administrative law judges Pratibha Shenoy and Beth Bierman filed in July on […]