AUSTIN, Texas – Records obtained through an open records request provide more information about what happened at Austin Water days before leaders issued the first ever citywide boil water notice.
• Silt and other debris washed downstream by heavy rains caused the boil water notice
• Boil water notice affected 1 million people
The head of Austin Water says silt and other debris washed downstream by heavy rains near Llano caused the city's three water treatment plants to become overwhelmed with sludge and silt in mid-October, eventually leading to the boil water notice.
Emails provided to us show Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros planned to actually relax water restrictions the day before turbidity levels--the measure of the water's cloudiness—at intake began to climb the charts, as shown below.
In an email to the City Manager, an assistant to Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros says he recommended Austin return to year-round Conservation Stage water regulations--which is the city's lowest level of water restrictions--the following day.
“This memo is to recommend the Manager authorize Austin return to year-round Conservation Stage water regulations, our basic stage, as of tomorrow Thursday 10/18/18,” an assistant to Meszaros said in an email to City Manager Spencer Cronk’s office. “Please let us know if CMO has any questions, or if the Manager approves.”
The memo was sent two days after heavy rains brought the Llano River to historic levels and washed out the 2900 Bridge leading into Kingsland. By then, floodwaters were affecting homes throughout the Highland Lakes. Turbidity levels were just beginning to increase beyond normal levels at the utility’s three water treatment plants.
“The City Manager is prepared to allow [Austin Water] to take the necessary steps to inform the community about the stage change, however, we do not want that change communicated/celebrated publicly this week,” an assistant to Cronk said in a reply. “Given the loss of life/property that’s happened in the area and the ongoing flood threat, we feel the announcement should be held until the threat diminishes. Once the communication is sent, [Austin Water] should use a lens of empathy in communications to make sure we’re not being insensitive to the situation.”
The city had to enact emergency water restrictions just five days later. Those included no outdoor irrigation, filling of pools, use of decorative fountains or washing of vehicles. The restrictions followed a citywide boil water notice issued at 3 a.m. on October 22, 2018, affecting more than 1 million people.
By Tuesday, the Mount Larson neighborhood in West Lake Hills was on the brink of running out of water.
“It looks like water is being pulled from reservoirs in the mount Larson area at an alarming rate,” said Drema Gross, the utility’s Water Conservation Division Manager in an email to the utility’s communications directors. “Once we have those pieces we will contact you and ask for an email and/or reverse text.”
Officials sent out a Reverse 911 message to families in that neighborhood. However, the city never issued one the morning of the boil water notice.
“The Austin-Travis County Emergency Operations Center determined that reaching out through traditional and social media, coordinating with employers and the service industry, as well as working directly with our institutional partners in the government, public safety and health communities was appropriate and sufficient to achieve our goals at the time,” the city said in a draft statement obtained through the records request.