West Travis PUA warns low reservoir levels, outlines meters, fees and $113M in projects

Good evening. The West Travis County Public Utility Agency’s vice president, Jack Kreveling, told the Bee Cave City Council on March 25 that the agency is operating under Stage 2 mandatory water restrictions because combined reservoir storage has fallen “a little bit below 50%.”

Kreveling said the PUA is tying its restrictions to the Lower Colorado River Authority’s guidance and has started enforcement patrols. He described the penalty schedule: an initial warning, $500 for a second violation and $1,000 for a third and subsequent violations.

The agency is replacing all residential meters with advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) system‑wide, Kreveling said. “We’re gonna get real time information for people that are going over their water limitations,” he said, adding AMI helps with leak detection and quicker response to broken lines. He said some neighborhoods on Hamilton Pool Road have already been converted and staff will distribute homeowner access information.

Kreveling discussed recent impact‑fee increases tied to large planned capital projects. He said the PUA is preparing an expansion of its water treatment plant (approximately $80,000,000) and a major new water line along U.S. 290 (approximately $33,000,000), and that forecasted wastewater work will follow. He said impact fees for new service on the 71 system are now about $9,034 for water and $13,798 for wastewater, and that fees for the 290 system would be higher (about $12,000 for water on that system). He noted impact fees apply to new service only and do not affect existing customers unless they obtain new service.

Kreveling said the PUA has not raised retail rates since February 2017 and that a rate study is in progress; preliminary planning envisioned a roughly 24% adjustment spread across two years, with an example increase of a $45 monthly base fee to about $50. He said the agency expects to receive the rate‑study results this summer and that any rate increases will follow the study.

On capacity, Kreveling said the PUA has reserved about 14,000 acre‑feet of water from the LCRA and currently uses about half of that, meaning the system can accommodate significant additional demand under current allocations. He also described longer‑term regional water projects the LCRA is pursuing and noted the agency’s healthy cash position and planned bond sales tied to about $120,000,000 of upcoming improvements.

Council members asked about resident access to AMI data and whether the PUA system is the same as the WCID 17 installation; Kreveling said the systems are compatible and staff will provide information and neighborhood roll‑out details. Council members also pressed on whether the PUA can limit growth because of water supply; Kreveling said current allocations and system reserves provided capacity today, while acknowledging long‑term reservoir levels remain weather dependent.

The presentation also covered effluent reuse, with Kreveling saying Spanish Oaks and Falcon golf courses now irrigate “almost entirely with effluent,” and that Central Park could be switched from well water to effluent with a bore and connection.

Why it matters: the PUA’s decisions on meters, fees and the timing of rate increases affect infrastructure funding, new‑home costs and conservation policy in Bee Cave and neighboring areas.