Travis County supports collaborating on water issues

After months of public conversations and planning, local officials are ready to form a regional board to address long-term water supply issues.

In February 2013 the Travis County Commissioners Court supported forming the Central Texas Utility Development Corp. to identify needs and options for ensuring adequate water service.

The CT UDC held public meetings, and speakers were concerned about groundwater conservation districts, recharging local aquifers and collaborating as a region, CT UDC President Pix Howell wrote in a June 17 letter to the court.

"I think as time goes by, it's going to become more apparent that it's going to be important to have more of a regional entity thinking about water as a resource," Howell told the court July 1.

The next step is to form a board to govern the CT UDC. The idea is that each entity that partners with the UDC would have a single representative on the board.

Howell called the cities of the so-called Texas Triangle—Dallas/Ft. Worth, San Antonio and Houston—"water sponges" during the next 50 to 100 years. The court voted 4-0 to indicate the court's intention to participate in a collaboration.