As the city of Kyle, Texas, experiences unprecedented population growth, it also must maintain a delicate balance between progress and water sustainability. Tim Samford, Kyle's assistant director of water utilities for the last six years, has witnessed some of that rapid expansion – and attendant fallout - first-hand.
“We saw a lot of it come during the COVID era, when people were working from home,” said Samford. “Places like Kyle and the surrounding area saw a lot of interest, and the housing market went crazy.”
The population of Kyle, a central Texas suburb located between Austin and San Antonio, has ballooned from 5,314 n 2000 to 62,500 in 2023. A boom in residents, coupled with persistent drought conditions, has the city scrambling for water sources amid ongoing concerns about supply.
A report released by the Texas Water Development Board projected an 18% decrease in the state’s water reserves by 2070, even as demand is forecast to increase by 9%. The Barton Springs-Edwards Aquifer Conservation District, a groundwater conservation group that encompasses Kyle and the surrounding area, declared a Stage III Critical Drought for the region in early October.
The announcement followed “alarmingly low water levels” in the Edwards, Barton Springs and Trinity aquifers, the main drinking water resources for nearly 100,000 people from Austin to San Marcos, according to a district press release.
Persistent drought and high temperatures have prevented aquifer recovery since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a statewide disaster declaration in 2022. In a recent interview with FOX Business, Kyle mayor Travis Mitchell pointed to “multiple factors” for the city’s water shortfall.
"It's climate change, which is producing a lot of heat and extra droughts,” Mitchell said. “The droughts are longer and more frequent, so that's one. The second is just the growth in general – more homes, more people, more yards, more irrigation systems, more drawing down on the aquifer."
Postponement of a new pipeline project designed to transport water from the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer to Kyle is further exacerbating local water scarcity, noted Samford, the city water utilities official.
“There’s been a slowdown in easement acquisitions for use of the land because of the population boom,” said Samford. “There’s also been long lead times for materials, equipment and parts, which we’re still feeling the effects from.”
Considering the options
Carrizo-Wilcox is expected to be online during the first quarter of 2025, bringing with it a 26.7% increase in Kyle’s water supply. The effort is part of the Alliance Water project, comprised of the cities of Kyle, Buda and San Marcos, along with the Canyon River Regional Water Authority.
Alliance Water will boost Kyle's water supply by 1.73 million gallons per day in 2025, rising to 2 million gallons daily in 2027. Kyle’s current water sources bring in an average capacity of 6.47 million gallons per day.
Meanwhile, the fast-growing city is collaborating with multiple utilities and the Guadalupe Blanco River Authority to secure more flexible water resources, Samford said. Agreements with GBRA and the city of San Marcos provide Kyle about 500 acre-feet of water per year.
Continued regional development could cause supply problems long-term, leading to inequitable distribution of water resources among neighborhoods, said Samford. As part of its water master plan, Kyle officials are discussing wastewater recycling and reuse as a strategy to reduce rising demand.
This option faces considerable technical and economic constraints before becoming reality, said Samford.
“Wastewater treatment is time-consuming, and there’s also the public relations aspect,” he said. “People don’t like the idea of putting treated wastewater into the drinking system, but that’s a mentality we have to get over.”
While seawater desalination is another possibility for Kyle, this too comes with caveats.
“Desalination of deep aquifers requires a lot of infrastructure,” Samford said. “You pull it out of the ground, then you’ve got concentrate that needs to be disposed of after. And there’s not only infrastructure, you need staffing, permitting and everything else associated with it.”
Ongoing conservation efforts
To combat water scarcity, Kyle forbids power-washing driveways or using a hose for car washing. While the city recently lifted those prohibitions – thanks to a largely compliant public – Kyle has retained a ban on utilizing potable water for construction purposes.
Officials are also telling residents to limit birdbaths and other “water-hungry” property features, Samford said.
“People are putting in more native vegetation, or other things that match our arid environment,” he said. “We’re trying to change the mentality a little so people are aware of the situation they live in. This isn’t a Dallas suburb that gets 16 inches of rain annually. This is arid land in central Texas with some flash floods.”
Sixty miles north, San Antonio's water rules fluctuate apace with drought severity and the health of the Edwards aquifer, a crucial nearby water source. When aquifer levels fall below a predetermined threshold, for example, homeowners are subject to designated watering days and times.
San Antonio offers water-saver coupons to make it easier to replace thirsty lawns with native or drought-tolerant vegetation. In addition, most every local hotel chain and school district has low-flush toilets and water-saving shower heads. The city's conservation program is so successful, it averted the need for a costly new wastewater treatment plant, said Robert Puente, president and CEO of the San Antonio Water System (SAWS), a utility providing water services to over 2 million residents.
Alongside Edwards aquifer, SAWS taps into seven different water sources region-wide. For instance, the Vista Ridge pipeline delivers approximately 20% of San Antonio’s fresh drinking water. City crews are on a constant hunt for leaks in SAWS’ 930-square-mile service area – nearby water sources and dedicated conservation practices will keep supplies plentiful through 2070, Puente said.
Kyle, with its sprawl and less fortunate geological conditions, may face a more challenging path to water sustainability, he added.
“Kyle itself is small, so the growth is around the city,” said Puente. “San Antonio is blessed with four different aquifers. Kyle has ground and surface water, but they are competing with San Marcos and other areas with high development. So, they have to watch that to be able to meet those (water) demands.”
Samford, the Kyle water official, said being proactive will ensure the burgeoning municipality secures its water future.
“Our goal is to stay ahead of things with these different projects,” Samford said. “We’ve been hiring project managers, and brought in an assistant director of water. All this is keeping us efficient.”
