Point Austin: Drought? What Drought?
Just because we have a huge water supply doesn’t mean we have to use it
By Amy Smith, Austin Chronicle, Fri., Sept. 2, 2011
Last Thursday, Aug. 25, two members of the city’s Resource Management Commission, Chair Leo Dielmann and former Chair Christine Herbert, appeared before City Council to deliver a briefing on the current status of the city’s water conservation endeavors. They brought with them environmental activist Paul Robbins to provide the “public” component of the presentation…
Once Robbins had finished his portion of the briefing, Council Member Bill Spelman inadvertently opened the door for the elephant in the room – Water Treatment Plant No. 4 – the very topic that Leffingwell had tried to steer clear of as part of the discussion. Referring to Austin’s ample water supply, Spelman asked, “Why would it make sense not to use every bit of it?”
“Well,” Robbins replied, “one [reason] is you have to build new water treatment plants, and given how much fun we’re having with the current water treatment plant, I can’t help but believe that you don’t want to build any more of them.”