Partnership preps for water need

Partnership preps for water need

Written by Kara Vaught Tuesday, 07 August 2007

Round Rock buys its water far in advance, so far its getting ready for the year 2050.

In 2006, the cities of Round Rock, Leander and Cedar Park created the Brushy Creek Regional Utility Authority to create the infrastructure necessary to ensure a reliable source of water for citizens during years when — unlike now — rain is scarce.

The recent deluge deters the hardships of an impending drought, buying more time for the cities’ water partnership to enact its plan to make sure the cities are never high and dry.

“We have had our water resources set up for a decade or so, but because we’re partners [with Leander and Cedar Park] and we understood it would have been a traumatic event for them, we felt it was incumbent upon us to move forward,” Round Rock City Manager Jim Nuse said.

Round Rock knows what it is like to run out of water since that is exactly what happened in 1978. Some residents could not turn on their faucets and get a cup to drink. The problem was only temporary, but city staff has tried to stay ahead of development ever since. They are also sympathetic to other municipalities facing similar concerns.

“We really did just dodge a bullet,” said Wayne Watts, public works director and engineer for Leander. “If we hadn’t had all this tremendous amount of rain, by the end of the summer, we would have been in a serious emergency situation.”

Round Rock, currently supplied by the Edwards Aquifer, Lake Georgetown and Lake Stillhouse Hollow, invested in the Brushy Creek partnership to ensure enough water for its booming population, Nuse said.

The plan

Phase one of the project includes adding a temporary floating intake facility beside an existing water intake plant, a raw water pipeline, a water treatment facility in Cedar Park and a treated water pipeline. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2008 and be complete in 2010.

It is phase two, construction of a deep-water intake facility and raw water pipeline that ensures the cities have water even in drought conditions, Watts said. As water levels decline in a drought, the floating intakes get closer to the lake bottom, eventually reaching dry ground and sucking air.

A deep-water intake is built to reach into the lake below the point to which water levels receded during the historical drought of record.

“It’s been 57 years since that drought, so it’s becoming more and more statistically possible to occur again,” Watts said. “It’s very important to have that deep-water intake because, at some point, we will have a drought.”

Construction of phase two is scheduled to begin in 2009 and end in 2011. In 2016, the treatment plant built in phase one is expected to need expansion, according to the partnership’s timeline.

The entire plan has a projected cost of $330 million. Round Rock will pay an estimated $130 million. Once the project is finished, the city will have enough water for Round Rock’s projected build out in 2050 and will support a population of 220,000, according to Michael Thane, Round Rock’s utilities director. The supply will come from a mix of the Brushy Creek partnership and other existing facilities, bringing around 103 million gallons of water a day.

The opposition

The Brushy Creek partnership’s plan is ready for implementation save one factor: the location of the deep-water intake facility. Seven sites are under consideration, four of them in the Village of Volente.

A group of Volente citizens have hired a lawyer, Jason Collins, to assist them in prohibiting the Brushy Creek partnership from constructing the intake in Volente.

Outside a June 21 open house in Volente hosted by the Brushy Creek group, Collins passed out questions for Volente citizens to ask of the partnership’s representatives:

One stated “the cities of Round Rock, Cedar Park and Leander have available cost-effective sources of water within Williamson County. … the Tri-City Group should negotiate a long-term contract for water produced out of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer or pumped from eastern Williamson County Lakes.”

Extensive studies, comparing every water source and combination of water sources, have been conducted, Chris Lippe, the project manager for the Brushy Creek Regional Utility Authority, said, and every alternative is tens of millions of dollars more than the Brushy Creek’s plan.

The Brushy Creek partnership’s project timeline lists 2007-2008 as a time when public input will be sought.

In information packets passed out to Volente citizens at the open house, the partnership expressed a desire to come to an agreement with Volente, but Collins doubts an amicable solution.

“The main issues for me in this case boils down to a battle of cities,” he said. “I think this will end in a courtroom several years from now.”

Ultimately, the city must have the provision for water even in a drought situation, said Round Rock’s Communications Director Will Hampton.

“We’re responsible for a growing community. We are responsible to make sure that with that growth we know that the infrastructure is in place. Water is basic. People can’t live without it. Period,” he said.

Site 1: Approximately one and a half acres in Arrowhead Point subdivision No. 1.

Site 2: A 12.5-acre lot adjacent to Arrowhead Point subdivision No. 1. Two acres would accommodate the facility.

Site 3: Approximately two acres in Lake Travis subdivision No. 3.

Site 4: A 15-acre tract in Lake Travis subdivision No. 2. Two acres would accommodate the facility.

Site 5: Approximately four acres in Northshore phase 2, a subdivision of undeveloped custom home lots.

Site 6: Approximately 20 acres at the Volente Beach water park and marina, two of which would accommodate the facility.

Site 7: Approximately 25 acres located near Site 6 and the marina, two of which would accommodate the facility.