Resolution to Require External Audit of Austin Water Approved

Mayor Pro Tem Alison Alter’s resolution requiring an independent, external audit of Austin Water was approved unanimously by the Austin City Council today.
 
Alter’s resolution, co-sponsored by Council Members Kathie Tovo, Vanessa Fuentes, Paige Ellis, Leslie Pool, and Mackenzie Kelly, comes on the heels of Austin’s third boil water notice since 2018, and the city’s fifth incident with water quality and supply in recent years. “Our community expects and deserves better,” Alter said. “We need more substantive answers from the utility about what happened. This audit will allow us to look at our water utility issues more systemically and take actions to prevent further disruptions.”
 
The resolution directs the City Manager to procure an external audit of Austin’s water utility to review the five recent water quality events and service interruptions. The review will include an investigation of Austin Water’s overall management, including emergency preparedness. It also will compare Austin Water’s policies to national best practices and investigate the timeline for each water event, detailing public communications and evaluating whether any of these crises endangered public health. Overall, the audit will examine how Austin Water responded to each incident and examine whether the utility’s current facilities and operations are resilient to seasonal variability and extreme events.
 
Mayor Pro Tem Alter emphasized, “We cannot prevent future water quality and supply failures without carefully examining our management practices, operations, and the resiliency of our infrastructure investments.”  She underscored that four of the five recent water quality or supply issues stemmed from the Ullrich Water Treatment Plant. ”I don’t believe the boil water notices were simply a function of things outside of our control.”
 
“In the wake of the most recent boil water notice, Council members and the community have raised some important questions,” said Council Member Kathie Tovo. “Coupled with the Council discussions that have and will continue to take place, an independent audit by professionals with expertise in this industry will offer an important analysis about current and future utility operations.”
 
“I am committed to seeing this through as the recently appointed chair of the Austin Water Oversight Committee,” Council Member Vanessa Fuentes added. “This audit allows us to get a deeper understanding of the improvements that are needed at Austin Water, from infrastructure to operations, as well as how we best support staff.”
 
"An external audit is a great mechanism for us to continue the conversation that began with our Special Called Meeting on Tuesday," Council Member Paige Ellis commented. “Steps need to be taken to ensure tight oversight, specifically around bringing equipment online.”
 
“Our families, schools, and businesses must have a reliable source of water in order to function,” said Council Member Leslie Pool. “We’re moving forward swiftly with an external audit of Austin Water to resolve problems at the utility.”
 
All of the resolution’s co-sponsors acknowledged that the audit is necessary to restore public trust. “The additional oversight and independent external audit of Austin Water that will stem from this resolution are an important first step towards rebuilding that trust,” Mayor Pro Tem Alter added.