City Council authorized the city manager at its Jan. 23 meeting to negotiate and enter into a professional services agreement with the company to improve the city’s resiliency to droughts and other emergencies, according to agenda documents.
What you need to know
Cedar Park currently buys raw water for drinking water treatment from the Lower Colorado River Authority, according to the documents, which clarified the city’s current arrangement is set to provide the needed water through 2070.
With this study, the city is looking to enhance its water supply resiliency, mainly in the face of future droughts and other emergency situations, according to the documents.
The details
The documents detail some of the main goals of the study, such as:
- Evaluating, identifying and assessing alternative water sources to supplement the city’s current arrangement
- Identifying strategies that diversify the city’s water portfolio
- Making recommendations for enhancing the city’s water supply to meet future needs
What they’re saying
“We’re all going to rise and fall together as a region when it comes to water in 50 years,” Mayor Jim Penniman-Morin said.
As council discussed the item, the topic of whether to conduct a study as a city or look to a larger regional partnership on the matter came up.
“I think it’s money well spent, and I like the idea of being a leader in this category,” Mayor Pro Tem Eric Boyce said. “If you get into these regional collaborations, you risk bureaucratic issues that kind of bog you down.”
