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Need to catch up on local news? Here are five stories impacting the Austin metro from July 24-28.
1. Officials call for water conservation as lakes Travis, Buchanan reach 49% capacity
Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan—two lakes that provide water to over 1.4 million people in Central Texas—are at 49% capacity due to consistently high temperatures and lack of rainfall, the Lower Colorado River Authority announced July 24.
Lakes levels are expected to fall an additional 4%-5% by mid-August.
2. Austin seeks solutions to 'widespread' public data reliability issues
Austin maintains one of the most comprehensive public data portals among large U.S. cities, but frequently offers conflicting or outdated information through a system facing several management and accessibility issues, according to a new internal audit.
Austin's open data portal is home to a variety of public statistics, charts, maps and other reporting on topics, such as city spending, local development, traffic accidents, maintenance requests and community health outcomes.
3. Austin Community College partnership aims to train nurses
As the nursing shortage continues to grow, Austin Community College launched a program July 24 with Dwyer Workforce Development, a health care training nonprofit, to combat the issues.
Texas faces one of the second largest nursing shortages in the country, according to a July 18 news release from ACC. Data from the Texas Department of State Health Services shows the need for nurses in Texas will quadruple from 2015 to 2030.
4. Texas reserves more than $60M for homeless shelter expansions, services in Austin
Tens of millions of dollars in state funding could be used to expand Austin's homeless shelter system, representing a significant infusion in the local push to boost shelter capacity as the city contends with a widening gap in resources for those in need.
Nearly $60 million for shelter development in Austin was set aside by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs board on July 27.
5. Long-awaited $2.9M Violet Crown Trail extension complete; public invited to celebrate
A collaborative effort among the city of Austin's Urban Trails Program, the city of Sunset Valley and the Hill Country Conservancy, the project was about 10 years in the making.
Funding for the project includes:
$1.77 million from a Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization grant
$1.2 million from the 2016 mobility bond
$550,000 from the 2012 bond
