AUSTIN, Texas —
Water rates will likely go up for some Central Texas cities and utilities.
The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) discussed a proposal to increase water rates from $155 per acre-foot to $165 on Wednesday. An acre-foot of water is the amount of water needed to cover one acre of land; one foot deep.
If the proposal is approved, cities and utilities could pay $10 more per acre-foot of water.
The LCRA said it needs to raise water rates to pay for new water supply projects, to offset overall cost increases, and fund ongoing dam upgrades.
“Between the rehab project, the new gates, taking care of the rebar issues ... These are old houses. Y'all heard me say that for years, but these are old houses ... You got to put stuff in there to keep them operational because we can't rebuild them. We don’t have a chance to get a do-over,” LCRA General Manager Phil Wilson said.
The proposal will be on next month's board agenda. If approved, the new water rates go into effect in January 2025.
Earlier this year, the LCRA said they notified cities and utilities about the possible water rate hike. Cedar Park is one of the affected cities.
According to Cedar Park's Community Affairs Assistant Director, Daniel Sousa, the city implemented a water rate adjustment on February 1, 2024, before the LCRA's rate hike proposal. But Sousa said they anticipated and accounted for the potential LCRA rate increase.
Sousa explained the city's need for a rate increase.
"A rate adjustment was necessary due to several factors: a 15% increase in operation and maintenance costs from 2021 to 2023, rising project costs for materials, equipment, and fuel, recent large-scale emergency repairs in Lake Travis and Cypress Creek Road, and the emergence of unanticipated projects," Sousa said.
In March, Cedar Park’s average water bill increased from $84.42 to $92.28, a 9.3% rise.
While Austin is the LCRA’s largest customer, a previous agreement excludes the city from the rate increase proposal.
According to LCRA spokesperson, Clara Tuma, Austin has a long-term water supply contract with LCRA that supplements Austin’s water rights.
Details of the agreement include Austin's prepayment of $100 million in 1999; Austin has access to up to 325,000 acre-feet of water a year; Austin will have to pay for additional water when it uses more than 201,000 acre-feet for two years in a row (excluding water for power plants;) and Austin will pay the firm water rate if it goes over 150,000 acre-feet a year.