Despite rainfall last week, the Lower Colorado River Authority says the drought in Central Texas still persists. The LCRA held a press conference May 18 to ask customers to conserve water.

“The drought affects everyone in this area and we plan to have regular news conferences throughout the summer to keep the public informed,” LCRA General Manager Tom Mason said. “Here’s the bottom line: Water is a finite, shared resource.”

He said recent rainfall did not bring relief to the area because it was not enough to soak into the ground or replenish Lake Travis.

“We do not see the drought letting up any time soon,” Mason said.

Although the drought has not affected lake levels as much as the drought of 2008–09, the LCRA attributes that to the current drought only having been in effect for about seven to eight months, whereas the drought of 2008–09 was a two-year drought. LCRA Meteorologist Bob Rose said the longer the drought lasts, the more likely the area will see similar conditions.

“This year is the driest February to April on record for the City of Austin,” Mason said. “We’re seeing results of the weather. Our lakes are very low.”

Mason said the LCRA is managing the water they have in the best way possible—through a state-approved water management plan, which was updated in 2010 for a more conservative conservation plan and is being re-evaluated by a committee to see if it needs to be updated again.

Rose said the reason for the drought was La Niña weather conditions, which have gone to neutral, but may return this fall.

“In a drought, everyone may not be able to use all the water they want,” Mason said. “But they will have the water to meet their needs.”