Speak Up for Texas Water & Austin’s Riverfront

In This Issue: 

1. Stop the City Council From Paving Over the Dog’s Head
2. City Council Commits to Fossil Fuels Behind Closed Doors
3. Rain to River: A Better Vision for Austin’s Watersheds
4. Speak Up for Texas Water: Comment on the Draft 2027 State Water Plan

 
Stop the City Council From Paving Over the Dog’s Head
Speak Out Against Items 38, 39, and 60 on 5/21 Agenda

The proposed Dog’s Head Development Agreement (DA) affects 2,614 acres of land on the shores of one of the most pristine and biodiverse sections of the Colorado River, the free-flowing stretch renowned for its exceptional water quality and relatively limited urban development. Despite the ecological significance of this area, the City Manager has put forward an agreement that includes virtually no meaningful environmental protections, while offering the developer property and sales tax breaks.

This deal was negotiated behind closed doors, with no public input or oversight, bypassing review by the Planning Commission, Environmental Commission, or any other relevant board. The draft of the agreement was quietly posted late Friday afternoon, giving the public minimal time to review it ahead of a City Council vote scheduled for Thursday. If approved, the Development Agreement is irreversible and will govern development of the area for the next 45 years. Help demand these items be postponed and sent to the Boards and Commission for review! 

Here are some of the known problems:

1. No Development Limits: The agreement allows nearly unrestricted development—no limits on impervious cover, height, setbacks, or floor-to-area ratio. With minimal open space required and 100% impervious cover permitted on the remaining area, the agreement would permit 2,401 acres of pavement, worsening flooding, pollution, and heat island effects.
2. Floodplain and Water Quality Risks: Unlimited floodplain modifications are allowed, and the Critical Water Quality Zone (CWQZ) for the Colorado River is reduced to 200 feet, permitting development like roads and golf cart trails within the CWQZ. This increases erosion, disrupts water flow, and removes vegetation that protects against flooding and pollution.
3. No Cut-and-Fill Limits: This agreement would exempt the property from cut-and-fill regulations that are intended to limit changes to natural topography to control erosion and flooding.
4. Code Variances Without Oversight: The Director of Development Services, in his sole discretion, would be given authority to approve any variances to any city regulations (environmental, transportation, parkland) without public hearings or City Council votes.
5. Risky Water Quality Ponds: Old mining ponds will be used for water quality treatment, which could introduce legacy pollutants without proper oversight.
6. Developer Control for 45 Years: The developer has veto power over City Council decisions affecting the property for 45 years. The agreement can only be amended with the developer’s consent, but they can terminate it unilaterally if tax breaks aren’t granted.
7. Broad Zoning Uses: Almost all zoning uses are allowed, including industrial manufacturing, car dealerships, marinas, and outdoor entertainment venues. Large-scale tech uses like data centers? It’s possible.
8. Environmental Injustice: The project worsens environmental injustices in nearby neighborhoods, offering little benefit while increasing harm, despite using public tax dollars for infrastructure.
9. Tax Breaks for Developers: The city must create a tax increment reinvestment zone (TIRZ), diverting property and sales tax revenue from public services to fund the developer’s infrastructure. The area is misleadingly labeled “blighted” so the developers can qualify for these tax breaks.

TAKE ACTION TODAY

Email City Council (or sign up to speak HERE) and demand that the City Council POSTPONE Items 38, 39, and 60, send them through the boards and commissions process, especially the Environmental Commission. If this were truly a good deal for Austin, it can withhold public review.

20260521-038, Agenda Backup: Draft Agreement, PDF, 1.2 MB, posted 5/15/2026
20260521-038, Agenda Backup: Exhibits, PDF, 7.7 MB, posted 5/15/2026
20260521-038, Agenda Backup: Recommendation for Action, PDF, 121 KB, posted 5/15/2026

This item must be postponed immediately and sent through the Environmental Commission and full public review process before Council takes any action. Please spread the word, and speak out before Thursday’s vote.

 
Austin’s Rain to River Plan Adoption Provides Sharp Contrast to Dog’s Head Paving PlanItem 45 on the Austin City Council’s Thursday agenda calls for adoption of the City Watershed Protection Department’s Rain to River Strategic Plan.  SOS wholeheartedly supports the Rain to River plan.  We hope the City Council will not only vote to adopt it but use it and follow it. If it did, Endeavor’s Dog’s Head deal would not be on the table. The cognitive dissonance could scarcely be greater. 

Here’s one key part of the Watershed Department’s plan:
“What We Will Do: We’re committed to making our environmental and drainage standards clear, consistent, and enforceable. By improving how we work together and share expectations, we will reduce uncertainty while holding projects accountable for meeting watershed protection goals. This work prioritizes transparency and responsibility so that development supports the health, safety, and resilience of our community.”
Imagine a world where the City Council actually followed through on these same commitments. Alas, the Council’s moral and environmental compass is either lost, broken, sold, or discarded. And yet, here it is!! Hiding in plain sight.

Thank you to all of the Watershed Protection staff and community members who put such hard, thoughtful work into this process.

 
City Council Commits to Fossil Fuels Behind Closed DoorsFor Item 7 on the 5/21 Council Meeting, Austin Energy will be attempting to get the City Council to vote on potentially a billion-dollars worth of investment in natural gas peakers, behind closed doors, in Executive Session. Our friends at Public Citizen and other environmental organizations are speaking out, and we wanted to make sure to share the information. 

In an obvious attempt to bypass transparency and public oversight on a decision that would result in a de facto abandonment of the City’s carbon-free by 2035 goal, this closed-door meeting allows the City and Austin Energy to negotiate directly with unnamed companies for unspecified quantities of gas turbines, without going through a competitive purchasing process. 

Under the Energy Resource, Generation, and Climate Protection Plan to 2035 (2035 Plan), Austin Energy is required to issue an RFP to openly evaluate all available power generation, including renewable energy and battery storage. Importantly, Austin Energy must test whether carbon-free sources can meet the same reliability needs before pursuing gas peakers. Yet, without publishing the results of the RFP or any of the alternative generation analysis, Austin Energy now seeks Council approval for closed-door negotiations to pursue natural gas peakers. This abrupt reversal of requiring a transparent and competitive process by Austin Energy undermines the cornerstone of the 2035 Plan: “Community collaboration fosters transparency.” 

What is at stake is Austin’s climate future. Natural gas peakers (even new and more efficient models) are an environmentally harmful solution, as they perpetuate reliance on fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane, contributing to climate change. Adding more peakers to the grid will only result in more emissions. And because natural gas peakers typically operate during periods of high demand, their emissions align with times of peak air pollution, exacerbating environmental and public health issues. 
Tell City Council and Austin Energy to follow the 2035 Plan and focus on carbon-free options already available instead of rushing into buying gas peakers without giving the clean energy path an opportunity to succeed. 

TAKE ACTION
Speak at City Council this Thursday, May 21stWhere: Austin City Hall, 301 W. 2nd Street, Council Chambers
When: Meeting begins at 10:00 AM; AGAINST Agenda Item 7 (Regular Meeting) (Sign up to speak online HERE before noon on Wednesday or at City Hall before 8 am on Thursday).   

Sign Up to Speak at Council
 
Help Shape the Future of Texas WaterTexas Water Development Board Is Planning for Massive Groundwater ExpansionThe Draft 2027 State Water Plan lays out a future shaped by massive groundwater pumping, new pipelines, desalination plants, aquifer storage schemes, and explosive demand from sprawling development and data centers. State officials are projecting nearly $174 billion in future water infrastructure needs, and rural Texas aquifers are squarely in the crosshairs.

The Texas Water Development Board is accepting public comment right now, and this may be one of the few opportunities ordinary Texans have to get concerns on the record before these projects move from paper to reality.

If you care about your well, our creeks, our springs, our wildlife, or the future of water in Texas, now is the time to speak while it can still make a difference.

Bring Your Voice to the Water BoardAttend the public hearing on May 27, submit comments before May 29, and tell state officials that Texas water is not an unlimited commodity to be pumped, piped, and sold off without consequence. The people driving these projects are counting on silence, fatigue, and the assumption that nobody is paying attention. Let’s show them we are paying attention. 

Public Hearing on the Draft 2027 State Water Plan
May 27, 2026, 1:00 PM
Stephen F Austin Bldg, 1700 N Congress Ave or virtually via Teams Meeting (Meeting ID: 280 904 566 316 4; Passcode: fp9Lk2bs. Audio access only: 512-298-6360; phone conference ID: 508 590 523#)
Written comments accepted through May 29, 2026

Make Your Voice Heard 
 
There's rumbles of big storms gathering across Central Texas, with forecasts showing anywhere from 2-6 inches of rain over the next week. After years of drought, heat, and watching our springs struggle, we  welcome it. Let’s hope it comes in sheets, sinks deep into the ground, fills our creeks, and cools the soil and trees.

And while the skies open up, we need people to show up too.

This week’s City Council agenda contains decisions with consequences that would last generations. If you can attend, speak, write Council, or help spread the word, now is the time. Public pressure and presence matters, and we've seen it make a difference time and again. 

In Solidarity,
SOS Alliance