Hutto council hears update: recharge contract on track but pipeline limits constrain added supply

Hutto city officials told the City Council on March 6 that a private recharge project contracted to deliver treated water to the city remains on schedule but that technical limits on transmission and treatment mean the new supply will not immediately translate into unlimited additional water for Hutto.

The city’s outside counsel, Adam Friedman, told council members the recharge agreement had a second amendment confirming financing and a delivery date. “The second amendment was … a notification that Recharge had secured its financing for the project and that the delivery date under the contract would be for, I think, 02/09/2026, and it is still on target for delivery of that water,” Friedman said. He and Public Works Director Rick Horado said easements for the delivery pipeline have been secured and initial on-site construction has begun.

Council members pressed staff for context about how the new water will work inside Hutto’s system. Horado said the existing pipeline between the Shiloh pump station and the city can physically move about 6,000,000 gallons per day. “That pipeline from Shiloh out into the system is a 6,000,000 gallon pipeline. The recharge contract is for delivery of 4,000,000 gallons per day,” Horado said. He added the planned recharge delivery would use roughly 4 million of that 6 million-gallon capacity, leaving about 2 million gallons per day of transmission capacity for future sources.

Friedman and Horado identified a remaining technical question: treatment for iron. Friedman said the contract obligates the recharge developer to treat delivered water to TCEQ…