No, Austin’s ASR project is not planned to capture flood waters. The ASR project will store drinking water from Austin's core supply source, the Highland Lakes. An ASR project for flood mitigation is not feasible due to infrastructure and storage requirements as well as cost.

It is a priority for Austin Water to choose a location for the project that will allow us to protect the water that we store. AW will have control of the land above our stored water, but due to the early stage of the project, we have not yet identified specific strategies to achieve that. Other ASR projects, for example, have purchased the land above their stored water to protect it, and leased the land back to farmers or ranchers.  Additionally, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) requirements for ASR state that ASR projects must be able to maintain control over their stored water.

No, the intent of Austin’s ASR project is not to take native groundwater but to store Austin’s existing water supplies for later use. Austin’s ASR project will not take out more volume of water than it puts into the aquifer, per TCEQ ASR requirements.

Austin Water will pay for this project over a number of years using strategies that allow us to finance large projects while keeping customer rates affordable. Austin Water’s debt management strategies have made it possible to address two competing needs – spending on improvements infrastructure for dependable water service while keeping water rates down and affordable for customers of all incomes. Securing near-zero percent interest loans also helps Austin Water fund major infrastructure projects at a tremendous cost savings for the utility and its customers.

A review of all significant aquifers in Travis and the surrounding counties was performed to investigate characteristics beneficial for ASR projects. Some of those characteristics included: storage capability, potential well capacity, and groundwater regulations. Based on the characteristics, the Trinity and Carrizo-Wilcox aquifers in Bastrop, Lee, and Travis counties have the best potential for Austin’s ASR project. 

For more information relating to aquifers and groundwater please refer to the following link, https://www.twdb.texas.gov/groundwater/index.asp

Austin’s ASR project is planned to store water from Austin’s drinking water system. Water for ASR will be treated before it goes in the ground to ensure compatibility with the aquifer and existing groundwater. When ASR water is recovered, it will be treated to be fully compatible with AW’s existing drinking water quality.

In the next stage of ASR development, we will do more detailed water quality testing through an ASR pilot project. This will let us characterize how the source water stored in the ASR will interact with native groundwater. Extensive water quality testing will be done to ensure compatibility.

Since we have not yet identified specific locations for ASR wellfield areas, we do not have data at this point on potential effects on adjacent wells. We understand from other ASR projects that overall water levels for adjacent wells typically increase when water is being added to the ASR and decrease when ASR water is being withdrawn. Austin’s ASR project will not withdraw (or recover) more water than was stored. This is an important issue and is something we will be considering as we move forward.

The ASR team will hold community meetings to share information and collect input on the ASR project and will attend meetings in the community throughout the project. Community engagement events will be conducted in the summer of 2022 to receive input on the criteria and weightings that will be used by the project team to evaluate different project alternatives.

We are also developing an Equity and Affordability Road Map and Tool to help implement the ASR project with an equity and affordability lens. These products will help guide our community engagement efforts along with determining potential equity impacts and mitigation options when evaluating ASR project configurations.