The city of Hutto passed its first water master plan in May, approving the long-term plan that outlines current and future infrastructure needs for the growing city.

Hutto Public Works director Scot Stromsness said the plan took nearly two years to be completed. He said it is not an immediate action plan, but a reference tool for long-term planning.

“For example, if we have [a business that] wants to come in and build, we can refer to the plan on how to supply water to them,” he said. “We can start looking at [water usage] as a whole, instead of each individual instance.”

Hutto City Engineer Emily Truman said the plan creates a base model of how the water system currently works in Hutto. She said the software used to create the model allows the city to input changes to the system and see how those changes would affect the water supply.

“We’ve never had this before,” Truman said. “It’s really helpful. As the city grows we can model it and get real-time information on things like water pressure.”

The plan was created through a study by DCS Engineering, which analyzed the city’s water system. Truman said the main highlights of the plan focus on infrastructure issues such as pipe sizes and where to add future pipelines.

Truman said the plan is based on the city’s future land-use model and accounts for piping in areas where officials expect to see development.

Truman said officials are already incorporating the water master plan into current utility work to ensure the work meets future growth demands and standards.

“We’ll review the plan every five years,” she said. “It’s cycled through along with the wastewater, drainage and transportation plans. We’ll review it to make sure it keeps up with population growth.”

Truman said another important part of the DCS Engineering study and water master plan includes guidelines for flushing water. She said when the city needs to flush sitting water from the lines, officials used to pick pipes at random to flush. City staffers now have a plan for a systematic approach to flush water from the pipes.

“We can start looking at [water usage] as a whole, instead of each individual instance.”

– Scot Stromsness, Hutto Public Works director

Stromsness said the plan does not affect the city’s water sources, and the city will continue to source its water from Heart of Texas Water Suppliers, Manville Water Supply Corp. and the city of Taylor.

With one of the highest water rate fees in the area, Stromsness said Hutto’s water rates are higher because of the city’s water contracts being newer than in surrounding areas. He said when other cities begin renewing decades-old contracts, he expects to see rates increase throughout the area.

Stromsness said water rates will not likely lower, but he hopes to prevent them from increasing with the plan in place. He said a commercial development or other large water user could eventually come into the city and help absorb some of the costs of supplying water to the area.

“Right now our goal is to manage our water as economically as possible,” he said.

Stromsness said Hutto residents use less water per capita than surrounding areas, which he believes is due in part to the water rates.

“The rates keep the consumption low,” he said. “We’re planning ahead, and if other areas go into water restrictions, we’ll still be in a good position with plenty of water.”

Stromsness said the plan showed that the city has plenty of elevated water storage and should be able to supply water to new areas and residents.

“[The water master plan] helps us have the right tools as we grow and respond to demands,” he said.