As Austin continues to attract water-intensive industries to fuel growth, city leaders also are trying to ensure those businesses don’t put additional strain on the city’s long-term water supply.
The City Council on Thursday approved a resolution directing the City Manager to explore a series of water conservation measures for high-water-use industries, such as data centers and semiconductor manufacturers, if they want to locate in Austin.
“There’s a lot of concern about the water supply here in Texas and how that has been impacted by the spread of data centers and other big industry,” Council Member Mike Siegel said. “Austin is looking very carefully at AI, and if you want to use a lot of water, you’ll not only have to pay your fair share for water and infrastructure, but you also have to conserve as much as possible.”
In May, the council approved a resolution directing staff to develop a new economic development strategy focused on recruiting businesses from “target industries,” including sectors that require large amounts of water to operate.
Concerned those efforts could increase water demand, the Water Forward Task Force, a community-led group that advises the city on long-term water planning, recommended requiring stronger conservation practices after warning economic growth shouldn’t come at the expense of Austin’s future water supply. The Council acted on some of those recommendations Thursday, directing the City Manager to evaluate additional conservation requirements for those high-water use industries.
The move could lead to the city requiring major water users to reduce their potable, or drinkable, water use by using recycled water, connecting to the city’s reclaimed water system, installing onsite water reuse systems or using technologies that capture rainwater or condensate.
Austin Water currently defines a large-volume customer as one that uses more than 85 million gallons of water a year at a single service address. In comparison, an average Austin homeowner uses less than 25,000 gallons of water a year, according to Austin Water.
The resolution asks the City Manager to evaluate whether the 85 million threshold is appropriate. Conservation advocates argue the standard is too high, excluding facilities still using significant amounts of water.
It also asks the City Manager to consider requiring applicants to account for all projected water uses, recommend updates to the city’s drought contingency plan for large-volume customers, and require City Council approval for any application or conservation plan that does not meet the new standards.
“It’s a good step forward,” said Paul DiFiore, an environmental attorney who sits on the Water Forward Task Force.
DiFiore said failing to match future water demand with available supply could force the city to acquire more water through “expensive projects,” such as desalinating brackish groundwater.
He also said Austin can reduce the amount of “new supply we need to acquire if we are stricter with regulations about water reuse at these (high-volume) facilities. It’s just more expensive for them, but they should be required to do more.”
Still, DiFiore said another priority for water advocates is increasing transparency around how large-volume water users are approved.
Among the recommendations from the task force issued last month was requiring new major water users to go through a public approval process.
“That’s the main thing that’s left out of this resolution,” he said. “We want these projects to receive a public review … We want there to be a public decision-making process.”
He said that concern feels especially relevant given the 2,600-acre Dog’s Head development, where much of the public felt left out of the approval process. The City Council considered the large-volume water user resolution and the Dog’s Head proposal on Thursday.
Under the resolution, the City Manager will also recommend policy updates for large-volume users to the Climate, Water, Environment, and Parks Committee in December.
