Posting Language
Title
Authorize negotiation and execution of an emergency water service agreement with the City of Round Rock for the City of Austin to provide temporary water service in the event of an emergency, including payment of related charges by Round Rock. Funding: This item has no fiscal impact.
De
Lead Department
Austin Water.
Fiscal Note
This item has no fiscal impact.
For More Information:
Inquiries should be directed to Vicky Addie, Program Coordinator, at 512-972-0332 or vicky.addie@austintexas.gov.
Council Committee, Boards and Commission Action:
March 11, 2026 - Recommended for approval on a 6-0 vote with three Commissioners absent and one Commissioner off the dais.
Additional Backup Information:
The City of Round Rock currently provides potable water service within its service area by means of a water treatment plant, pumping facilities, and a distribution system owned and operated by Round Rock. The City of Austin does not provide wholesale water service to Round Rock.
A previous interlocal agreement provided an interconnect between the Austin and Round Rock systems. While that agreement was terminated and the connection remained unused, the interconnect was recently relocated due to a construction project requiring the relocation of an existing waterline. Austin and Round Rock now desire to enter into a new agreement to document the return of this interconnect as a metered point of connection. It will serve as a secondary source of potable water upon request by Round Rock in the event of an emergency. The designated point of connection is located at 2801 County Road 172.
Major requirements of the emergency water contract include:
• service is provided only for specifically defined events such as Acts of God or similar sudden unforeseen and unpreventable catastrophic conditions
• service duration is temporary, no longer than two-weeks
• approval by the Director of Austin Water is required
• the contract term is ten years; and
• Round Rock will pay for any use of water during the defined emergency event
Austin has determined that it has the capacity to serve an emergency interconnection under certain limited conditions to provide a temporary secondary source of a potable water supply to the Round Rock system during an emergency without causing a substantial degradation of the service provided to Austin’s water customers and that it would serve the public interest to provide such emergency service.