Sam Chapman

Austin Development - Follow The Water



Posted: Monday, August 25, 2008

by
Keller Williams Realty

New water restrictions were announced recently for communites south of Austin.  San Marcos, New Braunfels San Antonio and parts of the southern Austin area other communities draw water from the Edwards Aquifer.  The Edwards is huge, but these cities and others pull huge amounts of water out of it.  Without much in the way of rain since last June, the level of the aquifer is dropping steadily.  With no rain in sight and continued high demand, the Edwards Aquifer Authority called for a 20% reduction in water usage.  That is just the beginning of this story. Several areas will see stifled growth because of lack of water.  These area include the area just talked about, a stretch between the city of Bee Cave and Marble Falls and parts of the northwestern Austin area.  I have posted about the area west of Bee Cave running along Highway 71 on my Austin real estate blog in the past.  That was back when the LCRA seemed to have agreements with at least one subdivision, West Cypress Hills, to provide water.  There were plans shown on the LCRA website showing future water lines out in the area.  Now that all seems to have changed.

The LCRA took water out as far as Bee Creek Road to provide water for the Sweetwater Lazy 9 subdivision.  Beyond that, developers will need to find water.  The best way to do this is to secure water rights from the LCRA and build a treatment plant, but could be cost prohibitive.  The other way to do this is to provide money for infrastructure to the LCRA and have them build another plant.  For now and for the foreseeable future, the LCRA has no plans to provide more capacity.

The area to the northwest is in a similar situation.  Although Round Rock, Cedar Park and Leander have plans with the LCRA for two large intake pipes into Lake Travis, there will still not be enough water to sustain growth in some areas.  So what does this mean for developers?  It means that they will go east. 

There is plenty of land east of Austin for development and this area has sources for water.  State Highway 130, which loops around to the east of Austin, has already promoted a lot of development.  Although not as desirable as the area to the west with the hills and Lake Travis, this is the place to develop and it is all because of water.  This should make the Hill Country Alliance and many others happy pleased as they have fought any growth at all west of Bee Cave.

Getting back to the Hwy 71 area, there are projects out there that will do well.  One is the Reserve at Lake Travis.  Situated on 300 acres with some of the homes sites having Lake Travis frontage, this development was made possible because of a water agreement with a neighboring development.  The Coves at Lake Travis have wells that produce a lot of water.  Developer of the Reserve, Hal Jones, told me two weeks ago about the source of their water.  I was surprised, but pleased, to hear of the source being wells.  High-end developments like the Reserve will do well as people with money looking for second homes have discovered Lake Travis.

There are many ranches between Bee Cave and Marble Falls that would be wonderful for high-end residential developments, but that won't happen without water.  Anyone lucky enough to secure water rights could be sitting on gold if they do the development properly.  This would mean large home sites and a lot of green space.  This would also mean managing development very carefully so the area would not see ecological damage.

So for the coming years, don't look for a lot of new developments in part of the Austin area and look for a lot to happen east of the city. 
 
Learn more about Austin and Lake Travis real estate from Sam's Austin real estate blog.

Sam Chapman is a residential real estate agent  who has lived and worked in the Austin area since 1987.    Sam enjoys community service and volunteering in area schools.  Take a look at Sams Austin Real Estate website or read Sams real estate blog.

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