Austin Water officials told the Climate, Water, Environment, and Parks Committee on Oct. 22, 2025 that the utility’s five‑year capital improvements plan (CIP) included $2.7 billion of prioritized projects and previewed timelines and delivery approaches for several multi‑year, generational investments including the Walnut Creek wastewater treatment plant expansion and a deep transmission main from Davis Water Treatment Plant.

The CIP briefing described why the investments matter to Austin: the utility serves more than 1 million Central Texas customers and manages nearly 3,000 miles of wastewater pipe and almost 4,000 miles of water pipe. Martin Tower, who leads Austin Water’s Infrastructure Management Division, said staff used a zero‑based, risk‑adjusted planning approach that pared an initial $3.6 billion staff request down to the $2.7 billion five‑year plan approved as part of the August budget process.

The presentation outlined project examples, schedules and risks. Key projects discussed include:

- Walnut Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant expansion: staff said the project will raise capacity from 75 million gallons per day (MGD) to 100 MGD and convert existing processes to biological nutrient removal. The scope includes a flood wall, advanced odor control, a plant‑wide modernization and a change from chlorine gas to ultraviolet disinfection. Austin Water is delivering the work with a construction manager at risk (CMAR) and has broken the work into eight guaranteed maximum price packages. Staff said construction sequencing and continuing plant operations during conversion create complex schedule and cost risks; the construction schedule for this program will span multiple years. The utility reported it had been selected for federal loans that could cover up to 49% of construction costs.

- Williamson Creek wastewater interceptor: described as a roughly 3.5‑mile, 72‑inch interceptor that will replace a gravity sewer installed about 60 years ago. Staff said most of the interceptor will be built using trenchless tunneling 40–60 feet deep to reduce surface impacts. The project includes a water‑quality pond, conveyance of about four acres to Austin Parks and Recreation and acquisition of trail easements; the project was in the bid phase at the time of the briefing.

- Davis service transmission main: a planned 5.7‑mile, 84‑inch transmission main to move treated potable water from the Davis Water Treatment Plant toward central and East Austin. Staff said much of the main will be installed using deep tunneling (up to about 60 feet) to limit neighborhood impacts; preliminary design is finished and final design and easement work could take roughly two years, with construction lasting multiple additional years.

- Rehabilitation and reliability programs: staff outlined the Renewing Austin initiative to replace poor‑performing pipes using historical break data, condition assessments and targeted repairs; reclaimed water projects to ‘complete the core’ and link northern and southern reclaimed systems; and the Hancock resiliency project to add a second solids basin at a water treatment plant to preserve treatment capacity during maintenance.

Staff also reviewed facility investments. Melvin Frazier, facilities management division manager, described renovation and consolidation work: an Austin Water Control Center purchased about 18 months earlier is being renovated as a combined lab, security/dispatch and emergency operations hub with construction documents at 75% and a planned 2026 completion; a newly purchased South Service Center hub is intended to put Austin Water’s long‑range site plan into effect; and a phased renovation of the Tawalla Creek Center is planned to start in January 2026.

Charles Solaro, assistant director for engineering technical services, summarized delivery and risk management approaches including alternative delivery methods (competitive sealed proposals and CMAR), tunneling and trenchless construction, sequencing to maintain continuous service and early procurement of long‑lead equipment. "The contractor is in the same room with the operation staff, with the engineering staff to develop the plans, and also provide the scheduling efficiency where we can overlap some processes," Solaro said, describing the CMAR preconstruction collaboration.

Committee members pressed staff on neighborhood impacts and timelines. When asked how the deep shafts associated with tunneling would affect adjacent neighbors, staff said not all shafts require the large surface footprints seen on interstate projects and that the team is evaluating off‑site shaft locations to reduce impacts. For the Davis transmission main, staff estimated roughly two more years of final design and easement work before construction and cautioned that the full construction period could exceed four years.

Staff flagged cost uncertainties: inflationary pressures, constrained site access, constructability and the cost of temporary bypass systems that would be needed to maintain operations during upgrades. For large projects such as Walnut Creek, staff said the CMAR approach and early guaranteed maximum price packages are intended to reduce schedule and budget risk.

What happened next: the committee did not take formal votes on the CIP presentation. Earlier in the meeting the committee approved minutes from its Sept. 24, 2025 meeting by voice vote (no objection).