For Immediate Release – May 8, 2009

AUSTIN - The Austin Water Utility (AWU) is hosting a community celebration in Nicholas Dawson Park on Tuesday, May 12, beginning at 11:00 a.m. to commemorate the completion of the Austin Clean Water Program (ACWP). The park is located at 614 Gibson Street just south of Barton Springs Road.

The City's $400 million ACWP initiative was created to focus the City's activities on satisfying a 1999 Administrative Order (AO) from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to rehabilitate, and/or replace priority segments of Austin's aging $3.5 billion wastewater collection system with an overall completion deadline of June 2009.

"The goal of the program was to improve Austin's collection system to prevent sewer overflows to make our system sustainable for future generations and to protect public health and the environment," said Gopal Guthikonda, assistant director of the Austin Water Utility and the City's ACWP program manager. "ACWP represents one of the most important environmental efforts in the history of the Utility."

By finishing these projects ahead of the deadline, the City avoided the possibility of having to pay millions of dollars in penalties for non-compliance.

2000-2009 ACWP Major Accomplishments:

• Cleaner creeks/improved public health

• 100 wastewater improvement projects completed in 70 neighborhoods before the EPA deadline

• More than 1 million feet of new wastewater lines installed and rehabilitated

• 2,400 new manholes and 3,900 new residential laterals installed

• Reduced overflows and improved emergency response time

Media Contact:
Kevin Buchman
Email to: Kevin.Buchman@ci.austin.tx.us
City of Austin Water Utility
(512) 972-0151; pgr.(512) 802-8959