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(Steven Joyner)
The Ullrich Water Treatment plant with a layer on Wednesday.
Austin Water lifted the boil water notice for its Central Austin zone—one of nine in its service area—early Monday morning, a week after a winter storm left hundreds of thousands of Austinites without power and, a couple days later, tens of thousands without water. The boil water notice remains in effect for the eight other zones—two of which are still experiencing a complete water outage. Meanwhile, power has been restored to almost the whole Austin area.
Water update
Most of Austin is still under a boil-water notice, while some do not even have water to boil. As of early Monday morning, two service zones—Northwest C and Southwest C—were still experiencing water outages.
Austin submitted water quality testing to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which confirmed on Sunday that tap water in the central pressure zone meets regulatory standards and is safe to consume. Residents can determine which zone their residence is located in using this map.
(Austin Water)
"We expect to have all of Austin with water service by today and (the) boil water notice lifted city-wide shortly after," Director Greg Meszaros said in a statement.
Overnight, Austin Water's reserves exceeded 118 million gallons, increasing water pressure and bringing the city's water system "into healthy territory," according to a press release from the city.
Austin Water also continued to urge customers with water service to take conservation measures "so we can return water service to everyone more quickly" in a tweet on Sunday evening.
The city issued emergency water use restrictions on Saturday, which remain in place. Until further notice, all outdoor water use is prohibited. Customers may not:
- Use water for irrigation or testing of irrigation equipment
- Wash vehicles, including at commercial car wash facilities
- Wash pavement or other surfaces
- Add water to a pool or spa
- Conduct foundation watering
- Operate an ornamental fountain or pond
Water distribution update
The Austin-Travis County Emergency Operation Center will operate 16 free water distribution sites from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. while supplies last. (The Del Valle High School distribution site will open at 10 a.m.)
- Nelson Field (7105 Berkman Dr, Austin, TX 78752)
- Onion Creek Soccer Complex (5600 E. William Cannon Dr, Austin, TX 78744)
- Roy G. Guerrero Park (400 Grove Blvd, Austin, TX 78741)
- ACC Highland Mall Parking Lot (E. Highland Mall Blvd, Austin, TX 78752)
- ACC Pinnacle Campus (7748 Highway 290 West, Austin, TX 78736)
- Garrison Park (6001 Menchaca Rd, Austin, TX 78745)
- Lakeline Station (13625 Lyndhurst Blvd, Austin, TX 78717)
- Walnut Creek Park (12138 N. Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78753)
- Zilker Park (2301 Barton Springs Rd, Austin, TX 78746)
- Anderson High School (8403 Mesa Dr, Austin, TX 78759)
- Lago Vista/Jonestown (7905 Bronco Lane, Leander, TX 78645)
- Lakeway/Bee Cave (1941 Lohmans Crossing Rd, Lakeway TX 78734)
- 9300 FM2244, Austin, TX 78733
- Del Valle High School (5201 Ross Rd, Del Valle, TX 78617)
- Manor ISD Athletic Complex (14832 FM973, Manor, TX 78653)
- Mobile POD - San Leanna
Power update
Austin Energy's base rates are fixed and any changes must be authorized by Austin City Council. Residential customers are billed for their actual energy usage, and anyone without power during this time had no electric use recorded, according to the same release.
General Manager Jackie Sargent said Friday that the utility does not yet have enough information to predict rate impacts as a result of this statewide super crisis. "That is information that will be forthcoming," she added.
This story was updated at 9:29 a.m. to include the latest information on water outages from Austin Water.
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From the California coast to Scandanavia, here's where each Austin FC player is from. (Claire Partain)
Austin FC's first signee, Rodney Redes, hails from Paraguay. So does the club's first Designated Player, Cecilio Dominguez. Five other players' hometowns are in South America, while five others are from Europe or Africa. While most on the roster signed to Austin FC from other MLS teams, Austin FC players have played as far north as Finland, as far east as Israel and as far south as Argentina.
English and Spanish are the most spoken languages on the team, although Zan Kolmanic speaks Slovenian and the club is well-traveled, too: Jon Gallagher has lived in six countries, while Kekuta Manneh, the club's only true Austinite, left behind all he knew in Gambia to move to the city in high school.
The multiculturalism on the pitch goes hand-in-hand with the city of Austin itself. Over 30% of the city's population is of Hispanic or Latino descent, and Austin is a majority-minority city (meaning non-Hispanic Whites make up less than 50% of the population).
It's brought even the most unlikely groups together; while supporters of Liga MX and the English Premier League used to be on opposite sides of the bar, now they come together in green.
Jorge Chavez, a member of Austin FC fan club Austin Anthem, said that Austin FC helps unite a city full of travelers and move-ins.
"A lot people here are from all these different places, and they might not have that much in common with each other, but now they do," Chavez said.
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Austin's tech industry is hardly insulated from the post-pandemic labor shortage. Its workers stand to benefit as a result. (Joe Jungmann/CC)
"We are living in times when the employees are the king or the queen," said Angelos Angelou, founder and CEO of local consulting firm AngelouEconomics.
A talent center
Lured by the state's business-friendly climate and Austin's growing tech scene, California-based companies such as Tesla, Oracle and TikTok built factories, relocated headquarters and opened offices. Austin posted the highest tech migration rate of any city in the country between May 2020 and April 2021, according to a recent LinkedIn analysis.
With so many new resident businesses, job growth kept pace. The Austin metro ranked fourth nationally for tech job postings growth in March, according to Silicon Valley Bank's latest State of the Markets report.
Oracle relocated its headquarters to the Riverside location in Austin. (Shutterstock)
To fill these roles, local tech companies have to look beyond the city limits. Employers poach from their competitors, recruit recent graduates from area colleges and universities or look to the national labor market for talent, Angelou said.
Summer Salazar, director of employer engagement at the University of Texas at Austin, has seen a huge influx in tech sector job postings on the university's job board in recent months. "We feel that demand," she said.
An employee's market
Jaime Cabrera, 28, recently graduated from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and is looking for a policy job at a social media company. He didn't go into his job search with plans to stay in Austin but has seen various intriguing openings, citing Bumble, Lyft and TikTok. "I didn't realize how many companies are here," he said.
The tech labor market also affects employees who are not looking for a new job but instead seeking better benefits or internal policy changes from their current employer.
Lawrence Humphrey, 27, lives in North Austin and works for IBM. Shortly after the murder of George Floyd, he co-founded Tech Can Do Better, which advocates for a more equitable industry. Since then, there has been little quantitative progress in terms of more diverse hiring and other metrics. But there has been a qualitative shift. "Issues around racial equity are just far more of a priority from the perspective of the employees, so therefore it's far more of a priority for the employers," he said.
OG vs. newcomers
Although the pandemic has accelerated the growth of Austin's tech industry, the industry was already established. In the latter half of the 20th century, the city attracted big tech originators like IBM because of its enticingly low labor cost and spawned homegrown giants like Dell—trends that continue today.
The arrival of Silicon Valley tech transplants in other growing tech cities, such as Miami, has led to tension with the so-called old guard. In Austin, such competition has forced companies to compete for workers, leading to more mobility.
"When I was in the job market, my god if you changed jobs often—and often meant once every three years—you were considered a traitor," said Angelou, who headed the Austin Chamber's economic development department from 1984 through 1995, helping to recruit companies such as IBM, Apple and Samsung to town. "Now people change jobs every nine months, it appears, and that is considered a plus."
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