Water preservation shapes development

Water preservation shapes development

Written by Rachel Youens Monday, 07 May 2007

Smart growth plan separates city

Water, and the protection of it, is an important factor in Austin’s comprehensive planning. Policies born out of water protection, such as smart growth, have resulted in major developments and employers choosing to locate in North Austin.

“In short, what we did was separate the city into two segments, and we said the boundaries of the drinking water watersheds are going to be our Drinking Water Protection Zone,” Austin City Manager Toby Futrell said. “Urban and suburban watersheds were going to be the Desired Development Zone, that’s where we were going to have public policies that encouraged managed, good, solid growth. That became the foundation of what we call smart growth.”

Smart growth

The Austin City Council adopted the smart growth ordinance in 1997 as a way to link planning to environmental protection. Smart growth is a national trend in planning that aims to prevent sprawl and make cities livable from both an ecological and economical standpoint. When the city began redrawing its comprehensive plan in the 1990s, city officials, including Futrell, created the two regions to protect water quality and create distinct areas where growth would be either fostered or discouraged.

Zone locations

West of MoPac is considered the DWPZ. In this region are sections of the Balcones Canyonlands and the Jollyville Plateau which contain creeks such as Bull Creek that feed into the Edwards Aquifer.

East of MoPac lies the DDZ, an area dense with buildings and roads. Whereas water in the DWPZ soaks into the land to recharge the aquifer, this area is categorized as an urban watershed, meaning most of it is covered in impervious concrete and water runs off into retention ponds rather than the drinking water supply.

Fostering growth

The real estate trend in the 1990s was to build in the western half of the city, Futrell said, so development had to be lured into the DDZ. That’s why, along with the smart growth ordinance, the city also passed a bond in 1998 to lock up the sensitive land around Barton Springs and then approved incentives giving developers a reason to build in the DDZ.

These incentives resulted in the location of Samsung and the Domain. Austin invested an amount not to exceed $25 million at the Domain and $56.5 million at Samsung over the course of 20 years in rebates and taxes, according to Amber King, Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services representative.

In return, the city would gain about 1,600 new jobs and a nearly $106 million return on its investment. The incentives were both a financial investment and a growth investment for the city.

“We were doing everything we could to entice and lure our primary employers to go into the Desired Development Zone,” Futrell said. “The reason for that is that you want to live where you work, and your supplies grow up near the primary employers, so if you could get your primary employers to go into desired development zones more people would live there.”

According to a study from Georgia Southern University, from 1997 to 2003 there was an increase in both housing permits and housing developments in the DDZ and a corresponding decrease in the DWPZ.

Building on protected land

One type of construction that, controversially, has not been put out of the DWPZ is Austin’s fourth drinking water treatment plant, planned near Lake Travis within the sensitive Balcones Canyonlands.

“It is in the Drinking Water Protection Zone, however a water plant is such that it has to be built near a lake,” Public Works Project Manager Jay Ulary said. “The city went through a site assessment, but this was the only place that made sense and there aren’t a lot of large land tracts open in that area.”

Austin bought the land in 1984, and this will be the first time the city has tapped Lake Travis. In its full capacity the plant will produce 300 million gallons per day.

An alternative site, known as Cortana, was considered but the location is home to several endangered birds. The construction on the water treatment plant will operate under environmentally conscious standards, and construction is likely to start in October, scheduled so as to not interfere with bird nesting.

“In these areas there are lots of bird habitats and karst (a type of porous stone) features, so anywhere out in this zone is going to be sensitive,” Ulary said. “But we’re committed to getting it done on time and with minimal impact.”

Smart Growth: Zone specific incentives

The city has several incentives to encourage development in areas where the drinking water supply will not be damaged by construction. This sliding scale lowers cost the further construction is from the Desired Develoment Zone’s sensitive watershed.

Zoning, subdivision or site plan application per 1/2 acre: $980

Balcones Canyonland

Home to several threatened and endangered species. In 1996, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service asked Travis County, Austin and the Lower Colorado River Authority to buy 30,428 acres of land to make up the preserve by 2016.

The Balcones Canyonlands also encompass the Jollyville Plateau. Roughly bounded by the Colorado River, MoPac, Lake Travis, and US 183, the Plateau is home to the threatened Jollyville salamander (at left) that, like the Barton Springs salamander that only lives at the pool, can only live in this area according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife services.

Drinking Water Protection Zone (DWPZ)

Extends down most of Austin’s Western side. Land here is part of a watershed and water runs off into the drinking water supply.

Desired Development Zone (DDZ)

Largely covered by urban watershed so rain runs off the concrete surfaces and into gutters or retention ponds. Developments lured here by incentives include Samsung and the Domain.

Water treatment plant

The city’s fourth water treatment plant, opening in 2013, will conflict with the Balcones Canyonlands but the effects on the land will be minimized.

Source: City of Austin Smart Growth