About our Sessions

The Brushy Creek Regional Utility Authority (BCRUA), a partnership of Cedar Park, Leander, and Round Rock, is developing a multi-phase water system to serve its rapidly growing communities. Phase 1, completed in 2012, includes a floating intake barge, transmission pipelines, and a 32.5 MGD water treatment plant. Recognizing the vulnerability of the temporary intake during prolonged droughts, BCRUA initiated Phase 2 to ensure long-term supply reliability.

Now under construction, Phase 2 features a deep water intake in Lake Travis’s main Colorado River channel, designed to deliver up to 145 MGD. The intake includes two 96-inch lake taps with 84-inch multi-level screens, connected to a gravity tunnel extending 9,000 feet to a new pump station. The tunnel, bored 100–400 feet below ground, terminates in a 300-foot deep suction chamber feeding six deep borehole submersible pumps housed in 72-inch well shafts, plus four additional pumps suspended in the 30-foot diameter main shaft.

Raw water is discharged through a 78-inch, 2,600-foot tunnel beneath the lake to connect with Phase 1 infrastructure. The submersible pumps, adapted from European mining applications, offer high efficiency, low noise, and simplified maintenance.

Designed by the Walker Partners / Freese and Nichols Joint Venture, this $225 million Phase 2 Raw Water Delivery System is one of Texas’ largest and most complex water supply projects. Construction began in Summer 2022 and is scheduled for completion in Spring 2027.