Round Rock officials approved a $115,000 engineering contract for a water master plan update Oct. 27 with the contract being won by CDM Smith Inc.

The master plan update will help the city to confirm the cost and schedule for upcoming capital improvement projects and complete the 2023 Impact Fee study that is underway.

Per the project's description in city documents, CDM Smith Inc. will evaluate current water demands in the context of land use assumptions and growth projections to account for the large growth in population and industrial development since the last plan update in 2020.

Round Rock Utility Department Director Michael Thane said the impact fee study requires an update on the status of the water system and needed projects in order to ensure the fees are set to contribute appropriately to the cost of those same projects.

"We're doing this because we're seeing some tremendous growth and construction costs continue to rise," Thane said. "We want to make sure that we get these projects and the cost identified so that when we do our impact fee update, after the master plans, we'll have those projects in there so that we can have new growth continue to pay for itself."


The engineering contract will be paid through the city's self-financed water construction fund.