Austin, TX
Austin-San Antonio mega-metro tries to avoid water crisis
Jacob’s Well gets its water from the Trinity Aquifer, which is currently at its lowest levels in recorded history.
Photo Courtesy of Katherine Sturdivant
It doesn’t take a natural scientist to understand that in Texas — and in particular, in the corridor between Austin and San Antonio — water is a major issue. Look at the sky and feel no drops. Read the stories about Jacob’s Well or look at an image of Lake Travis. It’s pretty bleak.
Unfortunately, as the region expands, water, or the lack thereo, is only going to become more of a concern. About 5 million people live in the region. That number is supposed to balloon to 6-7 million by 2030, according to The Greater Austin-San Antonio Corridor Council. Over the course of the next 50 years or so, water usage will continue to rise, droughts will persist, and, perhaps most dire of all and for a variety of reasons, we will have less water available to us.
The state and the cities need to figure this all out, lest the San Antonio-Austin mega-metro become Mad Max: Fury Road. Here’s what they’re doing.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Dripstone Ranch Supervisor Farron Sultmeier walks along the dry riverbed of the Frio River at the ranch in Sabinal, Texas, Feb. 14, 2020. The Edwards Aquifer Protection Program has spent more than $260 million in sales tax funds since 2000 to acquire about 160,000 acres of sensitive land over the aquiferThe program paid a local developer, Pat Kennedy, nearly $8 million for an easement: a permanent restriction on most development.
Josie Norris/Staff Photographer
The reason for Texas’ statewide water plan
People are seen Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022 at the Canyon Lake dam overlook park at Canyon Lake. The lake is about 88 percent full or almost 6 feet below normal conservation pool, marked by the debris line on the lake side of the dam. The Guadalupe River has been dry above the lake since late May and the lake has been releasing less than half its historical average amount of water for most of the summer according to the Texas Water Development Board’s Water Data For Texas website.
William Luther/Staff photographer
If you look up at the Central Texas sky longingly, aching for a single meager drop of water to fall from the sky that isn’t from a rogue window unit, you are not alone. The U.S. Drought Monitor’s map makes the counties between Austin and San Antonio look like a bad bruise.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
But it’s nothing compared to The Big One, at least not yet.
The so-called “drought of record” in Texas lasted from 1950-57 and is the reason that Texas has a statewide water plan. Causing an estimated $36 billion in agricultural losses, it’s a phrase on the tip of every water expert’s tongue.
The same year the drought ended, the Texas Water Development Board was established by the Texas Legislature to plan for the future. Since 1997, the state has planned for water on a regional basis, with Texas being broken into 16 regions, labeled A-P.
Austin, Pflugerville, and Fredericksburg are in Region K — also called the Lower Colorado Regional Water Planning Area — which also includes portions of Hays and all of Bastrop, Llano, Burnet, Blanco, and other surrounding counties. Region L, the South-Central Texas Regional Water Planning Area, spans from the Gulf to portions of the Hill Country, and includes San Antonio, San Marcos, and New Braunfels.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
The planning takes into consideration environmental factors like the climate, drought, and floods, plus projected population growth and increased water usage.
“On a systematic basis, Texas has as thorough a process as anyone in the U.S., if not better than almost anywhere,” says David Eaton, a professor of natural resource policy in the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT Austin. “I don’t know of a better statewide planning process that considers all of these factors and identifies the priority investments to provide water supply.”
People walk the ramp to the parking lot Wednesday, March 15, 2023, at Canyon Lake’s Cranes Mill Marina as the lake dropped to 77 percent full Wednesday and 11.50 feet below conservation pool, according to the Texas Water Development Board’s Water Data for Texas website. That level approaches the reservoir’s lowest springtime level in over 30 years.
William Luther/Staff
Planning for the future San Antonio-Austin mega-metro
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
That’s good news, right? As is the notion that the larger cities like Austin have a 100-year plan for water, with extra water purchased from the Lower Colorado River Authority that it doesn’t even use … just in case. San Antonio has its water needs planned through 2070.
But a close reading of the TWDB’s most recent State Water Plan, from 2022, paints a scarier picture for the state as a whole, particularly in the mega-metro. Not only is water usage projected to increase, but existing water supply is projected to decrease by about 18% by 2070.
So, the region needs more water. The TWDB’s plan outlines a few ways in which the state can increase its water supply, including reduction via conservation or adding to the current supply with new reservoirs, wells, water reuse, and constructing seawater and groundwater desalination plants.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Planning groups came up with thousands of water management strategies across the state in 2022, and, if put into action, would more than make up the projected water deficit that Texas faces by 2070. But that’s a tall order.
In reality, only two of the 16 regions were able to fully provide plans that met the needs of their regions and the state, and — spoiler alert — both fall outside the San Antonio-Austin mega-metro.
The implications are vast. Aside from the 90% of Texans who would face at least a 10% water shortage both on a city and residential level in 2070, 25% of all municipal water users in the state would be at a 50% shortage. The Texas economy would suffer to the tune of $153 billion, with job losses approaching 1.4 million.
TWDB makes note that these estimates are on the conservative side.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
The Texas Legislature addressed these concerns in May, adding $1 billion in surplus money for water supply and infrastructure, with two new funds — the New Water Supply for Texas Fund and the Texas Water Fund — created to allocate the money.
But, you know, Texas politics. The New Water Supply for Texas Fund becomes a reality on September 1, of this year if Gov. Greg Abbott approves it. Still, it’ll only be funded if voters approve the ballot measure for the Texas Water Fund — a constitutional amendment — this November. And, even if it goes through, it may not be nearly enough to address mounting water concerns.
Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs for the Texas Water Conservation Association Sarah Kirkle spoke on the proposed bill after it passed in the Texas House this May.
“No matter where it lands,” she said, “all of it is just a drop in the bucket compared to what the state’s need is.”
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
The Cranes Mill Marina is seen Monday, July 24, 2023, on Canyon Lake as water levels continue to drop at the popular reservoir. Canyon lake was 72.2 percent full and 14.2 feet low Monday, according to the Texas Water Development BoardÕs Water Data for Texas website.
William Luther/Staff
Working together
Sure, Texas is planning for the future, and it is (at least trying to) allocate resources that look to the back half of the century. But it does not manage water regionally, nor are there any plans to Voltron together the various water utilities, which could help with water infrastructure and delivery in the region.
Take the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, which services parts of Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. Created by congressional mandate, the ICPRB looks at water management on a watershed basis through cooperation between jurisdictions. In creating a single reservoir instead of many separate storage facilities, the area has a high level of reliability in sharing risk.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
“Anytime you have a larger scale, you have increased fiscal capacity,” Eaton says. “So you would expect that the infrastructure would be more effective if you have a larger regional system.”
Eaton points out that the mega-metro is larger than some states, which could make regional water management arduous. And then, of course, there’s the Texan-ness of it all.
“This is a matter of whether it works politically,” he says.
Therein lies the rub, particularly for the smaller towns in the Texas Hill Country and alongside I-35 between San Antonio and Austin.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
“Natural resources are always going to be a challenge here,” says Jeff Jewell, director of economic and community development for New Braunfels. “Water is a very big concern for this region.”
The Edwards Aquifer provides 18% of New Braunfels’ water, down from 100% in the years preceding 1991. Since then, as the city has grown, it has diversified its water portfolio. Cities like New Braunfels have done this because it allows them greater flexibility as they expand, particularly in times of drought.
That’s because the region that New Braunfels falls in is under statewide regulations that cap water usage as part of the Edwards Aquifer Authority Act of 1993. There’s no growing off the Edwards Aquifer. It is what it is.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
“The question for the city planners, for the water planners within the region is: What are you going to do to identify additional water resources above and beyond what you have with the Edwards?” says Roland Ruiz, general manager of the Edwards Aquifer Authority.
Medina Lake is seen Tuesday, June 20, 2023 behind the dam as the lake sits at 5.2 percent full, according to the Texas Water Development Board’s Water Data For Texas website. Medina Lake is managed by the Bexar-Medina-Atascosa Counties WCID #1. The San Antonio Water System filed a lawsuit Friday to get out of a 40-year agreement with the BMA requiring SAWS to pay millions of dollars every year for water from Medina Lake, which the utility says it can’t use and doesn’t need.
William Luther/Staff
Water solutions for the San Antonio-Austin mega-metro
In San Marcos, they’re doing just that. The city jointly owns a water treatment plant with the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority. It also gets water from the Edwards Aquifer, but they plan conservatively, basing everything on Stage 5 restrictions, which means 44% reduction from that source.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
So, the city is a 35% shareholder in the Alliance Regional Water Authority, a joint effort between the city and Kyle, Buda, and the Canyon Regional Water Authority, a $120 million dollar project. Their share of water comes online in January 2024.
“The other thing that we did is we purchased into to the Hays-Caldwell Treatment Plant and we move some surface water rights to that plant to also diversify our water supply,” says San Marcos’ Assistant Director of the Water and Wastewater Utility Paul Kite.
That water supply comes online in 2025. Kite says he feels confident that San Marcos will have enough water until at least 2050, but this is an evolving, ongoing process to plan for the rest of the century and beyond. San Marcos has some wholesale agreements with nearby cities and utilities and is working on more.
On paper, the mega-metro should be able to have enough water, but of course, it’s never that easy. A new drought of record or an unexpected population boom could destroy best-laid plans. Eaton agrees that Texas’ planning is top notch, but 2070 is almost impossible to imagine, even if it’s the job of water planners to do just that.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
“It’s difficult,” he says, “to have very firm, unambiguous statements about water availability.”
Re: April 21 article, “People aren’t living as long as they did 4 years ago, data shows”
Your recent article on declining life expectancy in Texas points to a deeper crisis. As a public health researcher studying “deaths of despair” — from suicide, alcohol and drug overdoses — I’ve found these deaths have increased by 153% in Texas since 2000, especially among those of working-age in economically distressed counties.
In 2020 alone, the state lost nearly 372,000 years of potential life to preventable causes. These outcomes aren’t random. They reflect policy choices. Texas still refuses to expand Medicaid, ranks near the bottom in mental health funding, and has passed abortion bans contributing to a 56% rise in maternal mortality from 2019 to 2022.
We know what works: Access to care, housing and economic opportunity saves lives. What’s missing is the political will to act.
Camerino I. Salazar, doctoral candidate, University of Texas at San Antonio
When will we heed the urgent warnings on climate change?
Re: April 24 article, “Climate ‘tipping points’ are near”
When there is virtually unanimous consensus among the people who devote their entire careers to studying a given topic, who are the world’s foremost experts, we had best pay attention to what they say — especially when what they say is irrefutably backed up by evidence every one of us can see in our daily lives.
To date, we have not paid much attention to what the experts are saying about how we are disrupting, even destroying, Mother Nature’s harmony. American Indians and many other indigenous groups around the world lived without pillaging and destroying the environment that sustains us, but our society has not found a way to do so. We continue to ignore the warning signs screaming all around us — at our own peril.
Technological advances are not going to get us out of this mess. We must make social, political, economic, behavioral and attitudinal changes.
Mark Warren, Austin
State duplicates the agency focused on efficiency
Re: April 24 article, “Abbott signs DOGE bill, targets state bureaucracy”
So, by a fell swoop of pen and cooperation of the highly efficient Legislature, Gov. Greg Abbott has created the Texas Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Interesting, because I always thought that was the function of the Texas Sunset Commission. For some reason, it does not seem efficient to have two agencies performing the same task.
But what do I know. I’m just a tax-paying citizen.
John Williams, Austin
Texas DOGE can start by killing anti-renewables bill
Gov. Greg Abbott has signed a bill to establish a state agency to find and remove regulations that hamper Texas’ growth. Let’s start by killing the bill designed to hinder growth of renewable energy. About 30% of energy generated in Texas is from solar and wind — and it is cheaper than electricity from coal or natural gas.
Wealthy Republican donors are sitting on a reservoir of natural gas in west Texas that is threatened by the renewable sector, which is really what Senate Bill 819 is about. Kill it now.
Lawrence Ragan, Austin
Great. The bathroom police are back.
Re: April 22 article, “Texas Senate to hear bathroom bill”
So, will the state hire cops to check peoples’ privates before they enter a public restroom? I’m a 78-year-old woman who enters a restroom, hoping there is toilet paper in the stall before I lock the door. Who cares if the person in the next stall is gay, straight or trans? Do your business and wash your hands. Hopefully there are towels or a hand blower!
Aren’t there more important things to worry about?
Haven’t we moved on from the “whites only” days of discrimination? Things aren’t looking “great” if we continue down this path. Perhaps tattoos will be next, so we can quickly identify and judge one another.
Sue Kemp, Austin
Bills give Pornhub a pass without solving the problem
Texas legislators are considering Senate Bill 2420 and HB 4901. Both would implement app store verification mandates. While intended as an alternative to requiring age verification at the site level, this serves to help app developers dodge accountability for keeping children safe without solving the problem.
Worse, the bills mandate that app stores share user age information with every app developer regardless of the app’s nature or user consent, which creates severe privacy hazards for all users of the platform, regardless of whether they are trying to access apps with adult content.
The bills do nothing to address the many other ways children can access online platforms and sites with adult content. They only serve to exempt sites like Pornhub — which is supporting SB 2420 — from the responsibility of protecting children from the online harms on its platform.
Our legislators in Austin should scrap both bills.
Bill Peacock, Dripping Springs
An apt reminder of Austin Animal Center’s no-kill ethos
Re: April 20 commentary, “Austin can again become leader in animal services,” by Tawny Hammond
Thank you, Tawny Hammond, for reminding us of how Austin was once a no-kill leader. Our city animal shelter has recently failed to serve our community by refusing to even take in found animals. Now we have a chance to help people keep their pets through supportive programs and improve shelter life for the animals by making it easier to volunteer, foster and adopt.
I hope that City Manager T.C. Broadnax will show us that he wants to embrace what Austin is all about and find a new shelter director with the vision that Tawny Hammond brought during her too-short tenure.
Rona Distenfeld, Austin
Waiting for that voters’ remorse to kick in
Re: April 23 article, “Poll shows further dip in Trump’s approval rating”
How many more things need to go sideways before the folks who voted for President Trump finally admit they made a grievous error in judgment? I thought things were supposed to get better? He never said there would be a “period of adjustment.” He said it would be “immediate!”
Wake up and smell the coffee before that tariff hits the smell.
Tip Giles, Austin
Look at the damage done in just in a few months
I want to thank you all who voted for President Trump for all that is happening in this country.
I once was a Republican and believed that this was a country that always did the right thing. Now elected officials are working steadfastly to whitewash American history. DEI is a dirty word.
The Trump administration is attacking the freedom of speech and discussion in our universities. They are silencing scientific research in our health care system. They are invading our private lives and destroying our right to privacy. They are arresting people who have broken no laws. They have gotten rid of due process. They have destroyed America’s reputation so that no country will ever trust us to do what we promised to do.
Wealth has power. If only it was used for good.
Richard Chiarello, Austin
How to submit a letter to the editor
Send letters of no more than 150 words by using our online form at https://bit.ly/3Crmkcf or send an email to letters@statesman.com.
We welcome your letters on all topics. Include your name and city of residence; we do not publish anonymous letters.
Hunter Elliott, Mike Bianco talk Ole Miss baseball win vs Vanderbilt
Ole Miss baseball pitcher Hunter Elliott and coach Mike Bianco discuss the Rebels’ 8-3 win over Vanderbilt on April 25
Texas baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle earned his first win over his former team on Friday night, as the No. 1 Longhorns (35-5, 17-2 SEC) defeated Texas A&M 2-1 in Game 1 of their three-game series.
Schlossnagle, who took the Texas job just a day after leading Texas A&M (24-17, 8-11) to the national championship last season, has been the center of attention this week in the college baseball world. That’ll happen after leaving for another school’s archrival.
The Longhorns will trot out left-handed pitcher Luke Harrison for the start, which won’t be an easy task for the Aggies. Harrison has a perfect 3-0 record with a 2.98 ERA this season. Texas A&M, meanwhile, is starting right-hander Justin Lamkin, who’s 3-4 this season with a 4.13 ERA.
Both teams will be looking for more offense on Saturday, with the Aggies needing a win to avoid dropping the three-game series.
Follow along here for live updates and highlights from Texas-Texas A&M baseball on Saturday:
Watch game two of Texas vs. Texas A&M baseball live with Fubo (free trial)
This section will be updated live.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | F |
| Texas A&M | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Texas | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Lamkin continues his nice start to the game, as he picks up his third strikeout of the game to strand a Texas baserunner in the second inning. Aggies looking to add to their lead in the top of the third here.
The Aggies take an early 1-0 lead after Wyatt Henseler’s sacrifice fly scores leadoff man Terrence Kiel II. Texas A&M heads into the next frame with a lead.
- DH Ethan Mendoza
- C Rylan Galvan
- SS Jalin Flores
- CF Will Gasparino
- 1B Kimble Schuessler
- 3B Casey Borba
- RF Tommy Farmer IV
- LF Adrian Rodriguez
- 2B Jayden Duplantier
Luke Harrison pitching.
- RF Terrence Kiel II
- CF Jace LaViolette
- 3B Wyatt Henseler
- DH Caden Sorrell
- C Bear Harrison
- SS Kaeden Kent
- 1B Blake Binderup
- 2B Ben Royo
- LF Jamal George
Justin Lamkin pitching.
Texas vs Texas A&M time today
- Time: 4 p.m. ET
- Date: Saturday, April 26
- Location: UFCU Disch-Falk Field (Austin, Texas)
Texas-Texas A&M baseball is set for a 4 p.m. ET first pitch in Austin, Texas.
Where to watch Texas vs Texas A&M baseball
Longhorns-Aggies baseball will air live on ESPN2, with streaming options available on the ESPN app (with a TV provider login), or Fubo, the latter of which offers a free trial to potential subscribers.
Austin, TX
Weather updates: Latest on Texas vs Texas A&M baseball matchup after delay for rain, lightning
Cade Belyeu hits emotional home run for Auburn hours after mom’s death
Auburn baseball’s Cade Belyeu hits a home run in Auburn, Alabama, just hours after mom’s death from cancer, honoring her memory in an emotional game.
USA Today
The first pitch for the highly anticipated Game 1 of the Lone Star Showdown between Texas and Texas A&M baseball has been interrupted by Mother Nature.
Due to inclement weather in the area, Texas announced on social media that the start of the three-game college baseball weekend series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Texas is in a delay.
Friday’s game is the first meeting between the Longhorns and Aggies since Jim Schlossnagle left Texas A&M for Texas after leading the Aggies to Game 3 of the College World Series against Tennessee last June.
USA TODAY Sports Network will provide updates on the weather delay Follow below:
This section will be updated. All times Eastern
8:30 p.m.: Texas A&M has taken the field at UFCU Disch-Falk Field for pregame warmups. First pitch between the Aggies and the Longhorns is set for 8:05 p.m. CT.
8:21 p.m.: First pitch has been set for 8:05 p.m. local time in Austin, Texas. Gates are also now open for fans.
7:50 p.m.: As noted by KBTX Sports’ Travis L. Brown on X (formerly Twitter), the scoreboard at UFCU Disch-Falk Field announced that another lightning strike has been detected in the area. Due to that, the first pitch will not now take place before 7:45 p.m. local time on Friday, as the 30-minute clock for game resumption was restarted.
7:40 p.m.: With rain coming down and lightning detected in the area, fans have taken shelter inside a nearby parking lot at the stadium.
7:20 p.m.: Texas baseball’s official X (formerly Twitter) account announced that Friday’s game will start in a weather delay and advised fans to stay in shelter.
7:20 p.m.: As noted by KBTX News’ Chief Meteorologist Max Crawford, lightning is currently still in the Austin area. Reminder: The NCAA Weather Protocol states that for every lightning strike detected within a six-mile radius of the stadium the clock resets with a new 30-minute clock for game resumption.
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
NJ high court to hear case between Catholic diocese, prosecutor over investigating sex abuse claims
New Mexico tree deaths increase in wake of 2022 wildfires
North Carolina wineries set to host tasting event on National Historic Landmark
D.C. residents welcome North Dakota veterans for Western ND Honor Flight
Ohio Applebee’s location vandalized with swastikas, antisemitic messages, police say
-
Education1 week agoVideo: Shooting at Florida State University Leaves 2 Dead and 6 Injured
-
News1 week agoHarvard would be smart to follow Hillsdale’s playbook. Trump should avoid Biden’s. | Opinion
-
Business1 week agoPorto's Bakery moving forward in Downtown Disney, replacing Earl of Sandwich
-
Politics1 week agoSupreme Court blocks new deportations of Venezuelans in Texas under 18th century Alien Enemies Act
-
Politics6 days agoVideo: Hegseth Attacks the Media Amid New Signal Controversy
-
Culture4 days agoNew Poetry Books That Lean Into Calm and Joy Amid Life’s Chaos
-
News1 week agoThe NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Saturday. Here's what to watch for
-
Politics6 days agoPope Francis and US presidents: A look back at his legacy with the nation's leaders