AUSTIN — The LCRA Board of Directors today (Dec. 7) authorized staff to negotiate contracts to extend water service along Hamilton Pool Road in western Travis County to several landowners/developers who had requested the service.
In taking the action, the Board approved a resolution that also specifies that LCRA will provide water service to the landowners only if the proposed new developments comply with strict water-quality protection measures.
After hearing opinions for and against water line construction, the Board agreed that service by LCRA is the best option to protect water quality while meeting the needs of inevitable growth in that area of the Barton Springs-Edwards Aquifer watershed.
"The Board has considered the vast amount of information provided by staff, landowners and many concerned citizens over the past six months, and we believe extending water service is the right thing to do," said LCRA Board Chair Ray Wilkerson. "The need for service is there. Development is occurring and denying utility service will not make the demand go away. If we continued to wait, we risked missing the opportunity to ensure that developers comply with water quality protection measures developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and designed specifically for this watershed."
The Board called today's special meeting to consider agreements with the Hamilton Pool Road landowners, who had requested water service more than a year ago. The Board had delayed action on the agreements in May in part to allow more time for completion of a regional planning effort, which began in December 2002. The effort, called the Regional Water Quality Planning Project, is designed to give cities and counties within the Barton Springs Segment of the Edwards Aquifer a framework for protecting water quality and endangered species. Members of the group told LCRA in May that they expected to complete their process by December 2004. While progress has been made on the regional plan, it has not been completed.
"We have a unique opportunity as steward of the basin's water resources to provide water services and in return get water quality controls that landowners are willing to place on their lands," said LCRA General Manager Joe Beal. "What we are doing provides an unprecedented level of protection for this area. If we do not provide water, these landowners have other viable options, which will likely not include the strict water quality provisions that we will require."
LCRA has provided administrative and technical support and $230,000 in funding to the Regional Water Quality Planning Project and two other regional planning groups working in Travis County.
If a regional plan is developed with more stringent water quality protection measures, LCRA will consider adopting them as a substitute for the Fish and Wildlife Service measures, according to the Board resolution. In the meantime, LCRA will require protective measures in deeds and plats, with the goal of no degradation of water quality during construction, and will work with Travis County on options for oversight after construction, Beal said.
New developments also must adopt water conservation and landscape deed restrictions. Physical features that are based on the Fish and Wildlife measures, such as stream buffer zones and impervious cover limitations, will be incorporated into the plats and deed restrictions. LCRA will review the plats and deed restrictions to make sure that these features are adequately addressed. Travis County will have the right to enforce these plats and deed restrictions.
Before the vote on Tuesday, the Board listened to several hours of comments from LCRA staff, landowners, stakeholder groups, neighborhood associations, residents and the public. Over the past six months the Board received more than 200 letters and e-mails from landowners, residents, stakeholders and members of the public who support the water line, oppose it or asked the Board to further postpone a decision until after regional planning processes are completed.
