Posted: Fri, 18 Nov 2011 07:01 AM - 12,734 Readers
By: Emilie Boenig
The Village of Volente could host Phase 2A of the Brushy Creek Regional Utility Authority’s Lake Travis water project, which includes installation of deep water intake pipes and station house construction.
The Village of Volente could host Phase 2A of the Brushy Creek Regional Utility Authority’s Lake Travis water project, which includes installation of deep water intake pipes and station house construction.
The BCRUA approved the 4.5 to 8–acre site selection in October after evaluating cost, environmental sensitivity, community impact and construction feasibility at 10 waterfront sites.
Leander City Engineer Wayne Watts said the selection of Site 4 in Volente is the most practical way to deliver water to 200,000 Cedar Park, Leander and Round Rock residents.
“We have a responsibility to citizens and ratepayers and customers to provide water in the most cost-effective way possible,” he said. “There is no other reasonable alternative.”
In a 2008 resolution, the Volente City Council banned the construction and operation of industrial intake facilities and pipelines within its municipal boundaries, but Watts said state statute favors the BCRUA.
“We’re going to comply with everything we can comply with,” Watts said. “Other than that, we can’t just pick up our stuff and go away.”
Requests for comment from Volente councilmen Matthew Hammond, Mark Scott and Chris Wilder were not returned by press time.
Talks between the Volente council and BCRUA began in 2008, said Mitch Fuller, BCRUA board member. He said the Volente council wants to know how the three-year construction project will affect the village.
“I think it’s important that we listen to what they’re asking us to give them and that we give it to them,” he said.
BCRUA expects construction to begin in eight to 10 years, long enough for Leander to grow a larger customer base, since 47 percent of the water pumped from the Volente site will be used there.
The planned pump station house is designed to blend in with similar surrounding architecture, according to Watts.
“When we get through, the thing is going to look like one of these homes on Lake Travis,” he said, adding the BCRUA has “done a good job of minimizing impact and restoring the land” on previous projects.
Construction of a deep water intake pipeline and a station house will not drain the lake, which was constructed as flood control and water supply facility, he said.
The Water Development Board will fund the $150 million phase, part of the total $303 million project. BCRUA can opt to bury the 78-inch pipes and minimize impact to Volente for an additional $10 million, according to Watts.
Over the next six months, the BCRUA will fund environmental and engineering due diligence studies to ensure the site’s viability.
The BCRUA partners the cities of Cedar Park, Leander and Round Rock to provide cost-effective water sources for their fast-growing jurisdictions, according to the organization’s website.
