Leander water issues improve as repairs continue on barge, water restrictions remain - KXAN.com

Leander water issues improve as repairs continue on barge, water restrictions remain | KXAN Austin

LEANDER, Texas (KXAN) — The City of Leander said water pumps that failed last week and caused tighter water restrictions are getting closer to operating at full capacity. As its water supplier continues those repairs, it asks customers to keep conserving water.

Leander is currently under Phase 3 water restrictions, which limit all outdoor watering to hand-held only.

These restrictions were a result of several water pumps on a raw water barge operated by the Brushy Creek Regional Utility Authority failing last week.

As of Wednesday, BCRUA’s General Manager Karen Bondy said almost all pumps on the barge are now up and running.

“BCRUA’s raw water barge has seven pumps that supply lake water to the water treatment plant. Five pumps can deliver the full capacity of the plant, with two pumps as backups. Since Friday, six pumps have been available, with the seventh available 75 percent of the day. Crews are working to bring the seventh pump to full capacity.” Karen Bondy, BCRUA General Manager

Christine DeLisle, Mayor of Leander, said the city has historically experienced water issues, but the recent extreme heat has put even more strain on its water infrastructure.

DeLisle said restrictions will remain out of an abundance of caution for now.

“We don’t want to give our residents and businesses a sense of ‘everything’s fine’ and then find out that it’s not. So, we’re just doing our due diligence right now before we lift that, but things are going really well,” DeLisle said.

A more permanent fix for reoccurring pump failure

Mayor DeLisle said this same barge has been the cause of water problems for the city before.

In February, a pipeline connected to the barge separated. It took underwater divers several days to fix the break.

DeLisle and Leander City Manager Rick Beverlin said the city’s water services will be less interruptible once the BCRUA’s deep-water intake system is finished in the near future.

In the meantime, the city improves its infrastructure where it can.

“All of those pieces are also kind of ongoing work to make sure that we have an uninterruptible water supply system, long term. A lot of those improvements are multi-year projects but those are ongoing right now,” Beverlin said.

Shannon Hamilton is the executive director of the Central Texas Water Coalition which monitors water in the area.

She said it is currently so hot, that having a way to process water is not the biggest concern. Hamilton stressed that water is being used or evaporating faster than it can be replaced with rain.

“Our inflows, the amount of water flowing into our Highland Lakes is very low,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton said all water customers should take their water restrictions seriously as it’s unknown when a reprieve from the heat and drought will come.

“We have more going out than is sustainable. Everybody is watering their lawns. They don’t want to lose their beautiful grass, but at this present time we really need to focus on water supply and making sure that we do have drinking water,” Hamilton said.