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In this Issue:
 New 1,000-Unit Multi-Family Complex on the Recharge Zone The Save Our Springs Alliance urges the Austin City Council to reject this Thursday’s Item 42, the proposed rezoning of Circle C Tract 110. The rezoning case concerns approximately 67 acres at 11010 ½ South Mopac Expressway Southbound, one of the last major undeveloped parcels in Circle C. The developer wants to remove conditional overlay restrictions that currently limit the site primarily to office development. We understand that the developer now wants to develop a large (~1,000-unit) apartment complex. We’ve got concerns. The site is governed by the Circle C Development Agreement, approved by City Council in 2002 to settle prior litigation. The office use limitation for Tract 110 was a negotiated protection designed to reduce development intensity over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. It also was part of a strategy to identify areas where office development could be built and be assessed a fee to help fund additional conservation land acquisitions. Tract 110 lies over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone, where development carries extreme water quality risks. Sediment and polluted stormwater can move quickly through caves, fractures, and other underground pathways toward Barton Springs. Water quality ponds help reduce post-construction pollution, but they are not a substitute for the more protective approach of limiting development intensity and preserving natural areas over the Recharge Zone in the first place. We are concerned that converting this tract from office to multifamily use would undermine commitments made in the prior Circle C agreement, including the expectation that office development would help generate assessment funds to acquire and protect additional recharge-zone lands. The developer argues that once the agreement expires in 2032, future development could allow more impervious cover under current code. Even if that is true, the site would still be subject to the SOS Ordinance’s 15% impervious cover limit, and the proposed 16-acre cap on impervious cover on this 67-acre tract is not a sufficient reason to accelerate environmental harm with such an intensive use or to permit the abandonment of environmental commitments. For these reasons, SOS opposes the proposed rezoning and will urge the City Council to reject it. Council should honor the prior agreement, maintain the existing development limits, and avoid increasing environmental risk in one of Austin’s most sensitive recharge-zone areas. If you would like to sign up to speak on this item, you may do so here. The public hearing for the item will be at or after 2 PM, September 10, at Austin City Hall, 301 W. 2nd Street, Austin, TX 78701. You must register to speak in advance of the meeting.  Saving Salado Creek, One Wastewater Permit at a Time This water win belongs to everyone who showed up for the Salado Creek, and we need your voice too. SOS, along with our partners at the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance and Save Salado Creek, reached a settlement agreement at the end of August with a developer that was proposing to discharge up to 700,000 gallons per day of treated municipal sewage into Salado Creek on the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone and near habitat for the threatened Salado Springs salamander. Amongst other provisions, the settlement agreement reduces the volume that the developer is permitted to discharge, requires the developer to treat the wastewater to higher standards, and requires the developer to beneficially reuse a significant amount of the wastewater throughout the development. You can check out news coverage of the agreement here at this link. Unfortunately, the fight to save Salado Creek is far from over, as there are still several wastewater discharge permits into the creek pending before TCEQ. TCEQ is holding a public meeting next Monday for one of these pending discharge permits, and we hope that you will take a look at the permit information and attend the public meeting or submit comments before the end of the meeting. Once again, this permit proposes to discharge treated municipal sewage containing high contractions of nutrients and other pollutants into Salado Creek over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone and near threatened salamander habitat. SPEAK UP FOR SALADO CREEK: To submit comments online opposing the permit, visit this website (https://www14.tceq.texas.gov/epic/eComment/) and enter permit no. WQ0015664001. ATTEND IN PERSON: The public meeting for the application by Louis A. Tsarkis Family Partnership, Ltd for permit no. WQ0015664002 will be on Monday, September 14 at 7:00 p.m. at the Salado Middle School Cafeteria.  Data Center Profiteers vs. The People Put the Industry on NoticeLast Wednesday, the people of Austin took the fight to the front door of the downtown Marriott for the Datacloud USA conference and brought a few "Brobots" with us. We showed up and showed out to let the data center industry know that Central Texas' water and land is no longer for sale. And we had fun doing it! Conference attendees stalled to film us as they arrived, then kept slipping outside to watch as our crowd grew larger and louder. Turns out our robot costumes and chants were considerably more interesting than the billionaire AI fever dream being peddled inside. Our peaceful rally made waves in the press and, more importantly, strengthened the growing case against this extractive, short-sighted industry that wants to turn Texas water and power into private profit. People are organizing, pushing back, and this movement is now impossible to ignore. Give now to help our legal and advocacy efforts keep up the pace. A huge thank you to EVERYONE who showed up, sang out, touted signs, made noise, and helped make this demonstration a success. We're especially grateful to our fellow organizers, Extinction Rebellion ATX, Public Citizen TX, Sunrise Movement Austin, the Raging Grannies, and Vocal Texas, who came together at breakneck speed to pull this off. We’re looking forward to getting rowdy together again very soon. In the meantime, our next two events keep the momentum against data centers going strong. 
We’ve settled on the theme for this year’s 10th annual Barton Springs University, inspired by a famous Bruce Lee quote: “Be Water, My Friend: Understanding, Adapting to, and Protecting Our Shared Resources". In a 1971 interview, Lee used water as a metaphor for adaptability and self knowledge. Water's strength and beauty comes from its ability to respond to the world around it without losing its essence.
Please consider joining us as a volunteer for Barton Springs University, a day filled with hands-on learning about how water shapes our world, how our world is changing, and how we can rise to meet the challenges we face, together. As always, thank you for holding the line for water with us. Onwards, SOS Alliance Comments are closed.
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