BASTROP COUNTY, TX (KXAN) — John Kirkland has found himself in the middle of a battle over his city’s water supply. As Mayor Pro Tem of the City of Bastrop, Kirkland said he was doing everything he could within his power to prevent Austin Water, the utility provider for the City of Austin, from storing water beneath the county.
“In my opinion, [the proposal] breaches the gray line of being immoral, and I continue to be strenuously opposed to it,” Kirkland said Tuesday, October 14, during a city council meeting.
The plan is called Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR), and it involves taking treated surface water from the City of Austin, transporting it to Bastrop County, and pumping that water into the aquifer below. By keeping water stored in the aquifer, it will be protected from evaporation.
“Every person that is affected by this project will have our full care and attention,” said Shay Ralls Roalson, director of Austin Water, at that same October 14 meeting.
“There’s really nothing for Bastrop except for risk in this project,” Kirkland told KXAN. He’s concerned that they’ll put their own water at risk in exchange for no benefit. “That risk involves depleting the wells of the people closest to us whenever they want that water out. It comes with the possibility of severe contamination, including poisoning.”
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Because treated surface water would be pumped into the aquifer, there is a chance that chemical reactions could occur between the pumped water and minerals found within the aquifer…