Posted: Tue, 24 Mar 2015 08:00 PM - 15,946 Readers

By: Rachel Rice

Lower Colorado River Authority officials report Lake Travis has risen slightly but not notably. Rainfall on March 20-21 didn’t bring much change.

The likelihood of the Highland Lakes reaching levels declared worse than the drought of record is less than 1 percent during the months of June and July of this year, Lower Colorado River Authority Executive Vice President of Water John Hofmann said, but the LCRA must plan like the worst will happen.

“The percentage chance is pretty small, but if you talk about it that way, (the 2011 water levels) were below 1 percent probability, and look what happened,” Hofmann said. “This is a new frame of reference for everybody – we have to talk about the probability of that happening.”

If the combined storage of the lakes reaches less than 600,000 acre-feet of water, or 30-percent capacity, LCRA would require municipalities and firm customers to reduce water usage by 20 percent from a “baseline year,” according to an LCRA press release, and would cut off water to all interruptible customers.

Hofmann said the lake levels have increased by a small amount so far this year, and as of March 16 the lakes are at 731,620 acre feet, or 36 percent capacity. Lake Travis is up a foot, he said.

“We have not run out of water, and LCRA can meet its firm water commitments,” Hofmann stated in the press release. “Lakes Travis and Buchanan are still more than a third full. We have enough water, but not enough to waste. So, we are working with our customers and with the public to create awareness about the severity of this drought and enlist their help in conserving water for a growing Texas.”

Water usage has been down from the average, Hofmann concedes, but the hot months bring extra challenges in terms of water usage, when outdoor water usage increases. Hofmann said the LCRA continues to encourage homeowners to conserve during this time of drought. But the LCRA remains hopeful that the elusive large rain event will land right on top of the lake.

“They’ve recently announced that El Nino conditions have developed, and we’ve been hoping for almost a year for that,” Hofmann said. “Part of what we’re seeing now in terms of weather is due to the El Nino effect. It allows us to have a little more moisture. But being out in Lake Travis, we’ve seen great rains in Austin and downstream that missed our Hill Country.”

The decreased lake levels also mean less evaporation, Hofmann added, because the lake currently has decreased surface area. Evaporation hit 190,000 acre feet in 2011, but in 2014 it was about 137,000 acre feet.

Out at Emerald Point Marina in Hudson Bend, marina general manager Doug Powell said he’s already anticipating moving his boat slips further down the water. The boating is still good, if slightly inconvenient due to the trek down to the water’s edge for boaters, Powell said. The issue lies in the cost of moving.

“It’s very expensive to move the docks,” Powell said. “It’s a labor intensive operation, and we have to use new anchors and cables since the old anchors are not retrievable. Plus there’s an expense involved in providing amenities like electricity and water that people have come to expect of a marina.”

*  Story Contributed by: Rachel Rice