The details
Although Austin City Council was scheduled to vote on a collaboration agreement with Bastrop County entities, which would have advanced the project to a field testing phase, Austin Water withdrew the item from the Nov. 20 Austin City Council agenda.
The decision was announced Nov. 19.
“While Austin put our best foot forward to achieve the collaboration and partnership that would be needed to complete testing and eventually build such a regional project, we didn’t reach the level of partnership that is needed,” Austin Water Director Shay Ralls Roalson said in a memorandum sent to Austin City Council.
Bastrop City Manager Sylvia Carrillo-Trevino noted the agenda item removal.
“The residents in Bastrop won,” she said in a Nov. 19 statement.
Bastrop County entities that did not approve the collaboration agreement included:
- Bastrop County (voted against the collaboration agreement)
- The city of Smithville (delayed action)
- The city of Bastrop (voted against the collaboration agreement)
- Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District
- Aqua Water Supply Corporation
- Bastrop County Water Conservation and Improvement District No. 2
- Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson discussed the removal of the agenda item in a post to Austin City Council’s message board.
“The intent was to pursue the project with a good-neighbor approach that would provide protections and benefits for the Bastrop County community while meeting water supply needs for Austin Water customers,” he said. “We didn’t reach the level of partnership that we need for this project’s success.”
Some context
The ASR project, which was approved as part of Austin’s Water Forward Plan, aimed to store and draw water at the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer through a facility Austin officials planned to build in northeast Bastrop County, as previously reported by Community Impact.
“We have committed to putting in more than we take out,” said Emlea Chanslor, who works in the public information office at Austin Water, during a July 8 Bastrop City Council meeting. “At least a 5% deposit will not be withdrawn, and that will help create a buffer zone and protect the health of the aquifer.”
However, Austin Water officials planned to first launch a three-year scientific study—which would have tested water compatibility in a lab—in late 2025 to explore the feasibility of storing drinking water underground in Bastrop County’s portion of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer.
Local officials, including Bastrop Mayor Pro Tem John Kirkland, repeatedly voiced their opposition.
“I'm speaking in my official capacity as the acting mayor pro tem of the city of Bastrop, representing approximately 13,000 residents,” he said during the public hearing portion of an Oct. 27 Bastrop County Commissioners Court meeting. “This court and the city Bastrop share the same opinion—that this project should not come to Bastrop.”
Notable quote
“Austin Water will continue to advance water supply storage strategies from the council-adopted Water Forward Plan,” Roalson said.
