Updated 01/27/2012 08:20 AM
Drought threatens water supply in Burnet County communities
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The record drought is taking its toll on Burnet County, and experts fear one area is just days away from running out of water.
More than 1,000 people in Spicewood and surrounding neighborhoods receive water from two wells. Unlike wells that get water from deep underground, these wells are shallower and absorb water from Lake Buchanan.
Now, with water levels at a historic low, the wells are going dry.
Barney Austin is the Director of Hydrologic Services for INTERA, an environmental consulting firm in Austin. He said the situation in Burnet County is about as bad as it gets.
"Mother Nature has taken its toll here. This is a very severe drought and it is a more severe drought than folks have planned for,” he said. “Planning in Texas is done on the assumption that the past 50 years are representative of the next 50 years, and what we are seeing right now might be worse than we have ever seen."
Austin says in a few days people will have to scramble to find an alternative source of water, and most likely it will be shipped in on trucks.
Thursday evening, various agencies, including the Lower Colorado River Authority, gathered to help the public understand the issue.
As they continue to debate the option of trucking in water, officials with the LCRA insist there will be no interruption to service for customers, but they may be asked to foot the bill for delivery.
"I can't tell you that you won't see a small increase in your bill because there are going to be some trucking costs that we are going to have to deal with," Ryan Rowney with the LCRA said.
For many, anger and confusion were aimed at the panel. Lakeside Beach resident Jennifer Jackson doesn’t think she should have to open her wallet because the wells she usually pays for are dry.
"I feel that I am paying for a service that it is up to them to do whatever they need to do to get that service to me. I should be paying for my water usage, not how they get it to me. That is on them," she said.
If water is trucked in from Austin, city officials say it will flow as normal, the only change will be where the water is coming from.