Water crisis in western Travis County
Posted: Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:38 PM - 46 Readers
By: Asher Price
Some schools west of Austin temporarily lost water Thursday after the West Travis County Public Utility Agency said customers violated overnight lawn-watering rules, leaving storage tanks unable to recharge. At least three Lake Travis ISD campuses experienced low or no water pressure until service was restored by early afternoon; Bee Cave Middle School even closed restrooms that morning. Residents described the disruption as chaotic, with many families picking children up early. Officials said roughly 5.27 million gallons were used in irrigation-sized bursts between 7 p.m. Wednesday and 6 a.m. Thursday — outside the Stage 3 window that limits watering to one day a week from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.
The episode highlights longer-term pressure on regional water supplies as Central Texas faces more drought, extreme heat, and growth. The utility, which serves a 225-square-mile area of homes, schools, and businesses, is pursuing about $125 million in capital projects and issued a boil-water notice to some customers because of the low pressure. Even after recent replenishment of Colorado River reservoirs that supply more than a million people, the incident underscores vulnerabilities in the system.
