Williamson County is working with local cities and other water providers to study the area's long-term supply needs. Representatives from the county and several cities, including Cedar Park, Georgetown, Leander and Round Rock, recently came together to form the Williamson County Water Group.
"The county is not a water provider, and we're officially not in the water business," said Williamson County Judge Steve Snell. "But I think we can provide leadership in that conversation as we bring our cities and our water providers together to create a better future for Williamson County."
The group's first task includes helping oversee a recently approved $500,000 study, which is intended to assess the county's long term water and infrastructure needs.
"We can't do anything without water," Snell said. "We all need to work together and use our expertise."
Snell likened the new county-led coalition to the Brushy Creek Regional Utility Authority — a partnership between the cities of Cedar Park, Leander and Round Rock to treat and distribute water from the Lower Colorado River Authority.
Cedar Park Mayor Jim Penniman-Morin said this partnership is in everyone's interest.
"What we've realized is that for us to achieve our long term goals as a community — particularly economic development — all our neighbors have to thrive as well," he said. "There is no version of Cedar Park as successful as it should be without all our neighbors being equally successful."
Several cities, including Georgetown, have struggled to keep up with customers' water demand in recent years.
A 2022 report revealed that Georgetown must find a new water source by 2030 in order to avoid supply shortages. The city is currently working to negotiate a long-term water supply agreement with another local water utility, EPCOR, to bring in groundwater from the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer in Robertson County — just north of the Bryan-College Station area.
A recent report from Texas 2036, a nonprofit, public policy organization, also suggested the state will face a long-term water deficit if it fails to develop new supplies and gets hit by another multi-year drought — costing the economy hundreds of billions of dollars.
Once the area's long term water supply needs are determined, the Williamson County Water Group will begin identifying possible solutions, Snell said.
"Every option will need to be on the table," he said. "So we're looking at groundwater solutions, surface water solutions ... we need to make sure that we can attain as much water as possible going forward."
Snell said the group will focus next on finding funding for those solutions.
"Whether it's a joint effort, whether it's a private-public partnership, whether it's all public, whether it's all private," he said.
Michael Thane, Round Rock's executive director of public works, said one thing is clear: "Individual solutions are going to be too expensive, but working together, we can find opportunities."
Georgetown resident Jonathan Moore said he's excited to see his city involved in a regional effort to secure water. As a vegetable gardener, Moore said he is always looking for better and more efficient ways to use water, but he’s concerned officials are putting too much emphasis on consumers to take the lead in conservation.
"I think it’s important at the governmental level to acknowledge that the consumer — while they do have some sway over these things — they’re not the big contributor," he said.
Moore said he hopes this study can identify some new and alternative conservation strategies.
"Businesses, especially large manufacturing businesses, are the major contributor to this problem," he said. "We have to either find a way to mitigate that, charge them to balance their impact ... or limit development in the first place."
Williamson County officials said they anticipate the study will be conducted in April.
