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Water

Austin Water still repairing shattered trust with water bill smoothing

After months of investigation, Austin Water and Austin Energy have an answer for the unusual spikes that Austinites saw in their water bills last September. Although Austin Water responded and changed its meter-reading contractor after the rash of misreads came…

New flood warning website should give Central Texans a closer look at risks

A website that warns Central Texans about road flooding is getting an overhaul this month. The designers of the new site say the changes should give visitors more detail about flooding near them. ATXfloods.com is basically a map that shows…

Austin Water pitches rate reductions in 2018

It has been 15 years since the last time Austin Water reduced the rates for the utility. There is a chance, however, that this trend may end in January. On Dec. 13, the assistant director of Austin Water, David Anders,…

Phantom water bill charges remain an unsolved mystery at Austin Water

For several years, water bills have been mysteriously spiking and leaving homeowners clutching their wallets and demanding answers. However, even when the public came en masse to plead that the Electric Utility Commission demand answers from city staff after the…

Central Texas resident asks Environmental Commission for dam help

On Nov. 1, Ann McElroy, co-founder of the organization No Colorado River Dam Inc., stood in front of the Environmental Commission to plead for its assistance in encouraging the city of Austin to pass a resolution denouncing a dam that…

In a gesture of goodwill, the city wants to reward those who are reusing their stormwater

Most Austin residents are aware of the sometimes economically painful reality of fixed stormwater drainage charges adding up on their monthly bills. However, after years of operating under this system, the Watershed Protection Department is changing its approach by rolling…

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Watershed Protection begins testing to change Waller hydrology

After two years of toying with the possibility of emulating the natural hydrology of Austin’s pre-urbanized watersheds through man-made controls, the Watershed Protection Department is finally putting its theories to the test at Reilly Elementary School. Reilly Elementary sits at…

Austin Water will not be raining down new rate increases in 2018

For the first time in 15 years, Austin Water Utility will not be increasing its rates. On Aug. 9, Austin Water presented its $614.8 million Fiscal Year 2017-18 budget proposal to the Water and Wastewater Commission for approval. Joseph Gonzales,…

City looks to bond to protect water, reduce flooding

The city needs to do a lot more to protect its water supply from contamination and its residents from flooding, officials from the Watershed Protection Department told members of the Environmental Commission Wednesday. They believe that a bond package that…

EPA drops objection to Dripping Springs' permit

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has withdrawn its interim objection to Dripping Springs’ application to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to discharge 995,000 gallons of treated wastewater into a tributary of Onion Creek. Dripping Springs officials have always said…

Costly wastewater expansion gets OK

Only a few commissioners raised questions on various recommendations presented at the Water and Wastewater Commission’s regular meeting May 10. But when it came to the approval of interlocal agreements and costs related to the Brushy Creek Regional Wastewater System…

Troxclair gets meter-reading contract postponed

How accurate are the water meters that determine how much Austinites pay their city-owned utility each month? Past allegations of frequent misreadings came up again at City Council Thursday, when Council Member Ellen Troxclair suggested that the city is not…

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