Potential legislation requiring larger cities to wholesale water and wastewater to smaller municipalities upon request could be one of the last keys unlocking a proposed 530-acre mixed-use development bridging the Hays and Travis County lines.
But opponents of House Bill 2959, authored by State Rep. Jason Isaac (R-Dripping Springs), fear the move could not only place burden on existing municipal utility rate payers, but goes against Austin’s plan to avoid development in the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer recharge zone.
Under HB 2959, a home rule municipality with a city-owned utility located in a county with a population of more than one million people would provide wholesale water and sewer service to general law cities with less than 301 people upon request.
