Water service restored in Lake Travis ISD, but residents say larger issues persist

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas — Three campuses in Lake Travis ISD were affected by a boil water notice, which turned into low water pressure issues, on Thursday afternoon.

Lake Travis ISD confirmed to CBS Austin that bottled water and hand sanitizer were provided to students instead of water fountains and handwashing.

Service was restored, and classes continued, but parents were given the option to pick their children up early.

Sarah Wright, a resident in the area, says the incident caused “chaos” for many families she knows.

“I started getting these texts this morning, like ‘I’ve got to get my kid from the school. Hey, can you pick up my kid too? I’m at work,’” said Wright.

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Wright says this is the first time she remembers the water going out at the schools, but she says Thursday’s events are an escalation of water issues the area experiences constantly.

“I don’t remember it being an issue when we first moved here, but certainly for the last several years,” she said.

Since moving to the Lake Travis area over 10 years ago, Wright says she and others have been experiencing boil-water notices, low pressure and watering restrictions with increasing frequency.

She is trying to make sense of the water service issues just one month after several dams were opened to let in water from the Central Texas floods down the Highland Lakes system.

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“I don’t understand how we’ve gotten where we’re at, and I just would like a better explanation from the government officials in charge about what they’re doing for the future,” she said.

What is causing the water service issues?

CBS Austin reached out to the West Travis County Public Utility Commission (WTC PUA), the agency that has jurisdiction over Bee Cave Middle School. They provided an extended statement.

“West Travis County PUA continues to experience low storage tank levels because water is being used across our system faster than it can be replenished. While extreme heat and high summer demand are contributing factors, our recent usage data shows that irrigation is driving a significant portion of the demand,” the PUA wrote.

The PUA says the low pressure issues are a result of households violating Stage 3 water restrictions, which limit each household to irrigation once per week on an assigned day. Stage 3 watering times are limited to the hours between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m.

The agency told CBS Austin that, in the last 24-hour period they tracked, “approximately 84% of water use occurred in irrigation-sized bursts rather than typical indoor-use patterns. Of that irrigation-sized use, 88%, or approximately 10.4 million gallons, occurred outside the permitted Stage 3 watering day or hours.”

The PUA says its tanks rely on lower overnight demand to recover from daytime use, but significant overnight watering has contributed to the tanks being depleted faster than they can replenish.

When asked if the agency can pinpoint households that are violating the water restrictions, they confirmed that they can.

The PUA says it will issue warnings to households that are in violation of the Stage 3 restrictions that went into effect today, but they have also been sending notices and fines to repeat offenders.

WCT PUA says roughly 1,200 of its retail customers were affected by the boil water notice. Other neighborhoods without water, such as Rough Hollow, are serviced by another company, Crossroads Utility Services.

CBS Austin has reached out to Crossroads for more information.

When will service be restored?

WCT PUA says it has collected water samples, and results are expected Friday, Aug. 28.

However, a spokesperson said results can only be delivered tomorrow if the water tanks are not depleted again due to overnight irrigation.

Is anything being done to remedy constant issues?

CBS Austin asked whether the WCT PUA is working on any water treatment or storage capacity upgrades to prevent demand from outpacing tank supply in the future.

They responded, “We have several projects underway that will be coming online in the next 12-24 months. However, it’s important to note that outside of summer months, we do not have supply issues. More than 80 percent of our treated water right now is being used for irrigation, not for essential indoor use.”