Seaholm project's rainwater storage system expansion approved by council

The system will also pump water over to Shoal Beach Park to be discharged through sprinklers in the event that its capacity is reached.

"The second component to our request is to allow us to pipe water from the rainwater collection over to Shoal Beach Park and distribute [it] there for filtration through the parkland rather than filtering it on-site and taking it straight to Lady Bird Lake," Evins said.

City code requires that if the system is topped off during a rain event that enough water must be released within 72 hours to be prepared to accept the next rainfall.

"It's more a matter of looking at what are the benefits, the more holistic benefits, we're receiving, and it seems that there are several very exciting and creative [benefits]," Councilwoman Laura Morrison said about the system.

Evins said use of the storage system will not impact the park areas. The intake structure is not part of the Seaholm development, and the developer would be responsible for revising the piping to accommodate future use of the site.

Councilman Chris Riley was concerned that stored rainwater might produce an odor, but officials said they didn't believe they collect enough water for it to become stagnant.

"One of the great values of this thing, from my point of view, is that it allows us to not have to use drinking water to irrigate a park," Councilman Bill Spelman said. "That's always something I'm interested in."