AUSTIN, Texas —
Austin's water supply outlook isn't looking good, despite recent rains. But there is a plan in place in case we don't get the rain expected from El Niño.
The KVUE Defenders are monitoring water issues in Central Texas.
Austin Water gave an update to the Austin Integrated Water Resource Planning Community Task Force on Tuesday regarding water supply conditions for the Lower Colorado River and the Highland Lakes.
Marisa Flores-Gonzalez, the Water Resources Team supervisor for Austin Water, presented key takeaways:
- In 2023, the Highland Lakes saw the fourth-lowest inflow on record
- 2022 was the lowest year for inflow ever
- 2023 was the hottest summer in the past 150 years
Right now, the combined storage level for Lakes Buchanan and Travis – the two water supply reservoirs for Austin – is at 42% capacity.
As a result, Austin remains at Stage 2 water restrictions, which limit automatic irrigation and hose-end watering to once a week and halt irrigation runtime at 5 a.m. instead of 8 a.m. Other restrictions include banning charity car washes and restricting home car washing to using a bucket.
Flores-Gonzalez told task force members we haven’t seen the rainfall expected from El Niño and if we don’t get that rainfall by springtime, drought conditions will expand and the combined storage level at Lakes Buchanan and Travis will continue to fall.
Right now, she said just under 40% of the state is impacted by drought.
Flores-Gonzalez said in the next few weeks, Austin Water will move faster to implement its emergency water supply strategy plan if we don’t see adequate rainfall.
“That strategy only provides 20,000,000 gallons per day, so it's not a silver bullet solution and it’s going to be a part of the drought response plan,” Flores-Gonzalez said.
According to Austin Water, each person used 131 gallons per day for fiscal year 2023. This includes all water users: residential, commercial, industrial, institutional and any water leaks.
The Austin Integrated Water Resource Planning Community Task Force was created by the city council to examine and make recommendations on alternative water sources – an important task since the lack of rain, the ongoing drought, population growth and aging infrastructure put Central Texas and the state’s water supply in jeopardy.