photo by LCRA

Municipal, agricultural and industrial water users served by the Lower Colorado River Authority will likely face water restrictions next year if drought conditions continue.

Despite all the recent rains in the Austin-San Antonio region, the rainfall has not added significantly to the stored water available to Central Texas customers. If water storage levels in Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan fall past a critical level, then LCRA officials would take actions to cut back on the amount of water available to agricultural customers as well as cities and industrial users. Current projections show that Central Texas will likely face these drastic cutbacks in late Spring unless the region gains more rainfall.

“It is prudent for LCRA and our water customers to make plans should the serious drought continue into next year,” says Tom Mason, LCRA general manager. “We hope these cutbacks are never needed, but we must put plans and procedures in place should water storage levels continue to drop.”

LCRA officials are currently in the process of accepting feedback from water customers in its service territory to determine the best way to handle water conservation measures in the event of a prolonged drought.

Austin-based LCRA is charged with delivering electricity, managing the water supply and the environment in the Lower Colorado River basin. LCRA serves a number of rural water and wastewater systems in the Texas Hill Country and communities north and east of San Antonio.