The Lower Colorado River Authority has formed a new advisory
committee to help update and revise the Water Management Plan for lakes
Travis and Buchanan, which supply drinking water to 1.1 million people
in Central Texas.
Read More The current plan, though only approved by the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality this past January, was originally
submitted in 2003, and thus based on research data nearly a decade old.
"The process [of updating the plan] can take several years and
[starting on the revision now] will give LCRA an opportunity to
incorporate information from new studies on projected water demands,
environmental flow needs and other important issues," said James Kowis,
LCRA water supply strategist.
How this affects Central Texans
The state-approved Water Management Plan governs LCRA's operation of
the Highland Lakes by balancing competing interests and determines how
water is allocated to customers during drought and other water supply
shortages. Major LCRA customers include the City of Austin and other
Central Texas communities; municipal utility districts and water supply
corporations; and industry and power plants.
"As the recent drought illustrated, the water in the Highland Lakes
is a limited and precious resource," said LCRA General Manager Tom
Mason. "The Water Management Plan helps ensure that this resource is
used responsibly to serve the diverse interests in the basin."
The potential actions outlined in the Water Management Plan include
reducing releases for environmental needs, cutting backwater for
agricultural customers, and working with wholesale municipal and
industrial customers to implement mandatory water-use restrictions.
LCRA executed actions outlined in the Water Management Plan during
the drought in 2009 when the combined storage of lakes Buchanan and
Travis dropped to 900,000 acre-feet (considered full at 2.01 million
acre-feet). This prompted LCRA to request its wholesale water customers
implement mandatory restrictions on water use, such as limiting car
washing, pool filling and lawn watering on certain days and limiting the
use of ornamental fountains. LCRA also reduced water for the downstream
bays and estuaries because of the drought and would have significantly
reduced water to the farmers in 2010 had timely rains not come.
About the advisory committee
The 16-member advisory committee will spend the next year working
with LCRA to provide input on how to improve water management strategies
that address needs in the basin. The revised plan will then be
submitted to TCEQ in late 2012.
The advisory committee members each represent a stakeholder group
that depends on the Highland Lakes: industry, environment, agriculture,
municipalities and lake interests.
"Each of these people has committed a significant amount of time to
this project," said Emlea Chanslor, LCRA spokesperson. "We hope the
interaction between the different kinds of customers will create lots of
discussion and understanding between our customers."
Committee members
- Ralph Savino, Garwood Irrigation Division
- Robby Cook, Lakeside Irrigation Division
- Haskell Simon, Gulf Coast Irrigation Division
- Laurance Armour, Pierce Ranch
- Myron Hess, National Wildlife Federation
- Cindy Loeffler, Texas Parks and Wildlife
- Jennifer Walker, Sierra Club, Lone Star Chapter
- Greg Meszaros, Austin Water Utility
- David Vaughn, City of Burnet
- Earl Foster, Kingsland Water Supply Corporation
- Rick Gangluff, South Texas Nuclear Project
- Ken Gorzycki, Horseshoe Bay Resort
- Kerry Spradley, Windermere Oaks
- Janet Caylor, Lakeway and Riviera Marinas
- Jo Karr Tedder, Council Creek Property Owners Association
- Rusty Brandon, Hi-Line Lake Resort
For more information on the Water Management Plan, including updates
on the advisory committee's work, visit www.lcra.org/watermanagementplan.
