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Austin Water asks Bastrop council to allow three years of lab testing for proposed aquifer storage project
Summary
Austin Water presented an Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) plan and asked Bastrop leaders to approve a collaboration agreement to begin three years of laboratory compatibility testing; council members and residents pressed for guarantees on permitting, monitoring and the use of eminent domain.
Austin Water officials briefed the Bastrop City Council on Oct. 14 about a proposed Aquifer Storage and Recovery project that would store treated Colorado River drinking water deep in the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer to stretch regional supplies. Shay Rollins, director of water for the city of Austin, told the council Austin is at an early stage and is asking only to begin three years of lab-based water compatibility testing and stakeholder collaboration — not to build facilities now.
Rollins emphasized local protections, telling the council, “We will not use imminent domain to acquire property for this project in Bastrop County.” She said the project would store Austin’s treated water, not extract groundwater, and that Austin plans to work with Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District on monitoring and operational controls. “We are simply asking to work together in partnership to do 3 years of testing in a lab to gather additional information,” Rollins said.
Council members pressed technical and jurisdictional questions: who permits ASR (Rollins said TCEQ has permitting authority), whether local groundwater levels or private wells could be harmed, and how Lost Pines would be involved. Mayor Pro Tem Kirkland voiced strong opposition to the collaboration agreement, saying he had, ‘‘continued to be strenuously opposed’’ and warned he would use legislative avenues to stop the project if council allowed the agreement to proceed. Resident Heather Green urged caution and asked whether treated and groundwater sources can be distinguished, saying she believed the answer was no.
Austin officials said the collaboration agreement would create a technical advisory group of local representatives and allow shared data so stakeholders could decide whether to proceed to pilot testing. The council did not take a final vote on construction — the ask on the table was approval to continue testing and stakeholder engagement.
