Watershed Protection outlines $122.4 million FY25 budget, flags funding gap and CIP priorities

The Watershed Protection Department on March 19 presented its fiscal year 2025 budget and a high-level capital improvement program overview to the Environmental Commission, describing a large portfolio of ongoing flood, erosion and water-quality projects and a structural funding gap that staff said will make outside capital — including bonds — important to future delivery.

Assistant Director Anupa Garpare told commissioners the department's FY25 budget totals $122.4 million, with drainage utility charges providing roughly $113 million of the revenue. Personnel costs are the largest single use at about $51.2 million; the department reported 442.5 full-time-equivalent positions for the fiscal year.

Garpare said the annual transfer from operations to the capital-improvement program (CIP) for FY25 is $26.5 million but that five-year planning guidance assumes that transfer will drop to $20 million per year in future years. She and managing engineer Pam Kerfitt said the department expects to continue leveraging other revenue — developer fees, external grants, and general-obligation bonds — to complete larger projects.

Garpare also told the commission the drainage utility rate increased 9.9% for the current fiscal cycle; staff said that raises the typical single-family residential bill by about $1.21 per month for a 3,100-square-foot lot with 37% impervious cover.

Kerfitt presented a portfolio snapshot: 112 active CIP projects citywide (mapped projects plus planning and studies), with many items in preliminary engineering or design. She highlighted six projects approaching construction milestones this year:

- Brassy Wood storm-drain improvements (Williamson Creek watershed): construction on Phase 1 is under way; a second phase is in final design. Funding sources include the drainage fund, 2018 bond money and developer-related detention fees.

- Nichols and Beckett Meadow water-quality pond reconstructions: construction under way to replace a liner and redesign another pond; funded from the drainage fund.

- Floodplain-study updates citywide: Watershed is updating floodplain maps using NOAA Atlas 14 precipitation data; preliminary maps for early study areas are expected for community review in early 2026.

- Roy G. Guerrero channel stabilization (East Austin): a major stream-restoration project in construction this year that combines drainage, park improvements and FEMA hazard-mitigation funding.

- Waller Creek Tunnel mechanical-screen upgrades: a construction-phase project to add debris-prevention screens to wet walls in the tunnel to maintain long-term operability.

- Old Lampasas/Old Land Passes Dam modernization (Bull Creek watershed): a dam-safety and detention-pond modernization project that includes overtopping protection, access improvements and added water-quality elements; construction continues through 2025.

Kerfitt said the department currently has projects funded from a combination of drainage transfers, prior bond proceeds (including 2018 Proposition D), developer fees (detention/RS&P) and occasional external grants. Staff encouraged commissioners to submit any budget recommendations by March 31 through the city's budget form; the commission made and passed a recommendation related to design funding (see Votes at a glance).

Commissioners asked about coordination with Travis County on land acquisitions, the status of federal and state infrastructure funds, the department's ability to convert preliminary engineering work into shovel-ready projects for bonds, and how community engagement will accompany floodplain map updates. Kerfitt and Garpare said the department will provide updated top-20 project lists and web-based project maps to the commission as those tools are refreshed.

The department posted project pages and mapping tools on Watershed's website and said staff are available to follow up on specific neighborhood questions and 311 service requests.