AUSTIN — Austin's unprecedented boil water notice may be over, but Austin Water, the city's water utility company, and the City of Austin still have a lot of work to do over the next 10 to 14 days in the aftermath.
According to Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk, Austin Water will be performing system-wide operational checks. maintenance, plant cleanup and washdown activities over the next two weeks.
The Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department will be taking down the water distribution sites that were set up while the boil water notice was ongoing. They'll also be in charge of the recovery phase of the disaster, which Cronk said includes them requesting reimbursement from the state and federal agencies for flood-related expenses.
RELATED:
Austin Water issued a precautionary boil water notice for its customers on Monday, Oct. 22 after admitting that floodwaters, filled with a significant amount of debris, from the Hill Country created challenges for the water treatment plants. The utility company failed to meet state standards for turbidity or water clarity levels on Oct. 23. But it wasn't until Oct. 28, six days after the initial notice was issued, that Austin Water rescinded the boil water notice for customers.
Now, Cronk said there's more work to do for Austin Water. Cronk said the utility company is set to conduct its own in-depth review of their operations, which will include an analysis of the raw water factors that contributed to the boil water notice. Austin Water will also be in touch with the Lower Colorado River Authority, which has been conducting flood operations at the Mansfield Dam for the past two weeks, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, outside engineering firms and water treatment experts. Cronk said Austin Water will emphasize in the report on how to improve and strengthen the drinking water system's response to raw water.
At the same time, the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department will coordinate the documentation of an after action report and corrective action plan, which will feature responses from multiple city and county departments, educational agencies, hospitals, and non-profits. Cronk said the documents will help the city prepare for the next emergency.
According to Cronk, reports were completed for the October Halloween floods of 2013 and 2015, as well as the Memorial Day flood of 2015.