Booming Southern city is still one of the fastest-growing metros in the US despite high rates of heat-related deaths
A town 20 miles south of Austin has become one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. despite an alarming lack of water and scorching temperatures.
Kyle, Texas, is located near the city, about an hour’s drive north of San Antonio.
It has the same humid subtropical climate as Austin, but unfortunately, according to locals, there is no infrastructure to combat the heat.
Despite heat-related issues, Kyle’s population has grown from 5,314 in 2000 to 62,500 in 2023, making it the second-fastest growing city in the country.
A new pipeline is currently being built to bring water to the community, at a cost of $250 million. However, delays have dogged the project. Meanwhile, heat-related deaths remain at an all-time high, with a record 341 in Texas last year.
Kyle is located across the road from Austin, and about an hour north of San Antonio. The city is the second fastest growing in the US – despite a distinct lack of water
A new pipeline is currently being built to bring water to the community, at a cost of $250 million. However, delays have hampered the project
âI’ve seen people completely pass out,â Alex Stockton, a member of the Laborers’ International Union of North America who leads construction crews drilling to lay pipes for a housing development in Kyle, said recently. The Wall Street Journal.
“I passed out.”
A year ago he moved to Buda, a town between Kyle and Austin, and he finds the heat there extreme.
He told the newspaper that his crew only gets 30 minutes of rest a day â a rule he ignores when he sees a colleague showing signs of heat exhaustion. He tells them to sit down, he said.
âA lot of companies don’t like that style,â Stockton explains, while companies like Amazon and Tesla are still setting up shop in the region.
âThey come by and ask, âWhy is he there?â And I say, âI donât know, so he doesnât die?ââ
The heat index, a measure of humidity, hit a record high of 117 degrees Fahrenheit in the Austin area last June, and a few months ago it hit 118 degrees Fahrenheit.
In May, the area received 125 emergency calls, double the number last year, while the population continues to grow.
In May, the number of emergency calls in the area was estimated at 125, double that of last year, as the population continues to grow.
Companies like Amazon, whose new sorting center in the city is seen here, continue to set up shop in the area, putting pressure on the already low water supply.
âThere were people who worked in factories or in an Amazon warehouse who were taking precautions and going to work with a big jug of water,â John Turner, medical director of four emergency rooms and urgent care centers in the region, told the Journal.
‘[A]and they still got kidney failure.’
Meanwhile, new homes continue to be built to accommodate the newcomers, with the center that opened in late 2020 creating more than 200 jobs.
Stockton is part of a wave of newcomers who have arrived since 2020, helping to grow the local population from 45,700 to 62,500.
Amazon also recently opened a distribution center in Buda in 2021, and Tesla opened its Gigafactory on the outskirts of Austin in 2022.
The migration can be attributed to the increasing demand for high-quality industrial space, combined with online sales for such businesses, all in a location that not only has relatively low taxes, but also serves two cities.
Kyle’s strategic location between these two top-performing cities, along I-35, has made it the second-fastest growing city in the U.S., behind Georgetown, another satellite city of Austin.
As more newcomers move in looking for lower taxes and cheaper real estate, the community’s water supply is coming under pressure.
Tesla opened its Gigafactory on the outskirts of Austin in 2022, as newcomers continue to flock to the region in search of lower taxes and ample space
Lately it has gotten so bad that Kyle is forced to buy water from nearby San Marcos.
Mayor Travis Mitchell said Fox Business Last week he explained why he thinks the city’s water supply is so depleted.
âIt’s a combination of several factors,â he explains.
‘The droughts are lasting longer and happening more often, that’s one.
âThe second,â he said, âis just growth in general: more houses, more people, more gardens, more irrigation systems, more extraction of the aquifer.â
Speaking to the Journal, he said the city will adapt, citing restrictions already in place on watering lawns and the pipeline he said will begin pumping water next year.
However, the schedule is still uncertain, as one of last year’s construction projects was already postponed, partly due to the influx of residents, according to those behind the expensive project.
Graham Moore, managing director of Alliance Water, told Fox about the factors causing the delays: âSome of them are equipment specific⊠we came out of the pandemic and had a tight market for certain equipment.â
Members of the Hays County Emergency Service Districts and the Kyle and Buda Fire Departments watch as a helicopter prepares to drop water on a wildfire during an extreme heat warning in August 2023
He added that because Kyle is increasingly developed, it has taken an “inordinate amount of time” to obtain the necessary rights and ownership to build the pipeline.
The city is considering building a new facility at its water treatment and wastewater plant to make the treated water drinkable again, as the Carrizo Pipeline is still not completed.
“We’re doing everything we can to increase supply and change demand at the same time. We’re putting programs in place to do that,” Mitchell told the Journal.
‘The new water supply of the [pipeline]while very important, it is not the only way to increase our water supply.’
When completed, the pipeline will bring water from the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer, which spans 60 counties.
âOur current water supply is approximately 5.7 million gallons per day,â Kyle Water Director Mike Murphy said of the 20-mile connection.
‘[The pipeline] will add another 1.7 million to that.’
As it stands, the city remains under Stage 3 drought restrictions, after the city banned home car washing and the use of local water for construction. The pipeline, which was scheduled to open last year, is expected to be completed sometime next year.
Meanwhile, the region continues to face severe drought, further threatening water supplies.
The city remains under Stage 3 drought restrictions, after the city already banned home car washing and the use of local water for construction projects.
In the spring, the City Council approved a contract to purchase water from San Marcos, which would cost Kyle at least $274,000 annually.
According to staff, the city likely wonât emerge from Phase 3 until the fall of 2024. Mayor Mitchell has already unveiled plans for a $99 million sports complex, which he says will attract more residents, as well as hotels and restaurants.
‘Water will always be a concern, [but] “I don’t think we have to worry about it,” Murphy told KXAN in June. “We have enough water now to go about our daily activities.
‘And if we include the 1.7 million that will be added in February, that will be another 1.7 million.’
By 2027, when the pipeline’s imports will be increased to 2 million gallons, everything will run smoothly, he said.
“We’re going to be in really good shape by 2027,” the mayor insisted. “This is going to expand our water portfolio, and that’s what we’re trying to do in Kyle.”