According to a new report, Hard to Swallow, Austin’s water utility has the highest cost per unit of combined water and wastewater of any large Texas city. It is highest in all rate classes, Residential, Commercial, Multifamily, and Industrial.  And it is highest when these rate classes are totaled.  The report also proves that Austin’s costs are higher than the majority of the suburban cities that surround it.

 

In 2011, Austin’s combined water/wastewater cost per unit (thousand gallons) was 53% higher than the weighted average of these 9 other large cities.  And Austin is 17% higher than the weighted average of the 14 smaller cities that surround it that were surveyed.

 

Comparing the water/wastewater costs for the other 9 largest Texas cities, the excess cost borne by Austin residences and commercial customers amounted to over $141 million in lost discretionary income and increased business costs in fiscal year 2011.  Comparing the costs of its suburbs, the excess cost to Austinites was $60 million.  And things are only going to get worse since the water utility plans to raise its costs by another 19% per person by the year 2016.

 

While high water costs are disturbing to us as consumers, there are at least 2 ways that these high costs impact the environment.  

 

1. An argument has been made that high water costs are good for the environment.  It is an economic fact that the more you pay for a resource, the less of it you are likely to use.  Don't we want people to use less water?

 

The more money that is spent for water, the less of it is available for investments in water conservation.  Building new expensive treatment plants before they are needed is a disincentive to conservation. High water costs reinforce the irony of building the new controversial water treatment plant (Water Treatment Plant #4) on Lake Travis.  

 

Water conservation is an imperative, and the drought that we are currently in reinforces this. Yet Austin’s huge debt for treatment plants has to be paid whether or not we use a drop of water.   Not even half of the new $508 million plant has been paid for yet.

 

2. An indirect impact that high water costs may have on Austin’s environmental programs is a reduction in funding.  There are three environmental programs or initiatives administered by the Austin Water Utility that are not always found in other water suppliers.  These include: A) water conservation; B) ownership and management of environmentally-sensitive land to protect water quality (Wildlands); and C) the purchase of renewable energy for electric power.  They amount to 4% of AWU’s total 2012 budget.

 

This does not seem like an enormous amount to pay for environmental protection.  Yet there is a strong possibility that one or more of these programs will be under assault by fiscal conservatives as the City comes under financial pressure to cut its high water costs by any means necessary.  In hard financial times, people look for scapegoats.  These programs could end up on the chopping block, even though the big reason for Austin's high costs is the enormous debt for treatment plants and growth.

 

To read more about the precarious financial situation we are in, Hard to Swallow is available online at: http://environmentaldirectory.info/