Often on a weekly basis, members of these communities must drive to the Travis County Parks East Office to fill large tanks with water from a common standpipe.
Current situation
Federal and county officials rallied July 18, celebrating plans to address basic access to water. U.S. Rep. Greg Casar presented Travis County with a $1 million check for the Eastern Travis County Water Main improvement project.
“We have neighbors and neighborhoods here that don't have basic access to water,” Casar said. “They either have low water pressure, they don't have a water pipe out of their neighborhood at all, they're being overcharged by private companies, or they're not getting clean water.”
In the rural part of the county along FM 812 just south of the city of Elroy, substantial water infrastructure has yet to be developed. However, as the county continues to see increased growth, local officials have expressed a desire for future investments into the area.
“Access to clean, safe drinking water is a human right. Nobody should have to drive to a water standpipe to fill up their tanks and haul it to their homes to have safe drinking water for their families,” Travis County Judge Andy Brown said. “For the last few decades, some neighborhoods, like the Farm-to-Market road 812 neighborhood, and across the unincorporated areas of Travis County have lacked this basic infrastructure.”
The million dollars in funding will help begin the design and construction of a new water main running along FM 812 from Elroy Road to Doyle Road, Brown said.
The lack of running water also poses a fire safety concern. Many of these communities lack adequate or working fire hydrants, according to a news release from Casar's office.
Restoring or bringing water services to fire hydrants and valves will be included in plans for the water main project.
Some context
A dependable water source was listed as the highest-ranked issue of importance countywide, trailed closely by dependable septic or wastewater systems, according to a recent Travis County Community Survey.
Residents in many communities along Travis County’s eastern crescent have historically experienced a lack in water access or quality.
Alexia Leclercq, a member of local advocacy group PODER, said she has been fighting for clean and affordable water in east Travis County for the last three years.
“In 2024, two million people in this country do not have access to clean water, and that includes 500,000 people in Texas and across...unincorporated areas and marginalized communities,” Leclercq said. "And this includes thousands of people in our communities right here in East Austin.”
Strides to address water quality and infrastructure have recently been targeted in the northeastern part of the county, with both Travis County commissioners and Austin City Council members signing off on a collaborative planning effort for the area in March.
“With great hesitation, I will admit that [planning] hadn’t gone very far, unfortunately,” Austin Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison told Community Impact in August 2023. “The truth of the matter is there’s a great deal of interest; we just haven’t made a lot of progress.”
Travis County applied for federal grant funding in 2023 through the congressman’s office, indicating a commitment to spread water equity and access to the southern parts of the county.
The federal budget for Congress has yet to be approved, but Casar is hopeful that he will be able to deliver more funding for various projects in eastern Travis County by the end of the year.
“I'm so proud that today we'll be bringing home this first $1 million chapter [with] many millions of dollars more to come to make sure everybody has access to affordable and clean water when they turn on the tap," Casar said.
