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 t's an obvious question: Is there enough water to serve growing areas such as western Travis and northern Hays counties?
LCRA manages water supplies in the lower Colorado basin, including in the Highland Lakes, the region's main source of drinking water. LCRA estimates there are sufficient water supplies to meet future municipal demands as the basin's population continues to grow. Water needs in western Travis County are simply a small portion of the basin's planned-for needs. The following questions and answers describe LCRA's water management responsibilities and the status of the basin's surface water supplies.
Amount of water available
from lakes Buchanan and Travis |
| LCRA estimates that in a severe drought lakes Buchanan and Travis can provide a reliable firm water supply of up to 535,812 acre-feet per year. The chart below shows the commitments of this water and the amount of water available to sell (in thousands of acre-feet** per year) as of Oct. 18, 2004: |
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*Includes 50,000 acre-feet per year that LCRA's Board has reserved for future uses, 31,700 acre-feet available to sell and an additional 17,500 acre-feet for environmental needs proposed in LCRA's revised Water Management Plan.
**Acre-foot: amount of water needed to cover an area of one acre to a depth of one foot. One acre-foot is equal to almost 326,000 gallons. |
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How does LCRA manage the basin's water supply and needs?
LCRA has a Water Management Plan to manage supply and demand for water in lakes Buchanan and Travis, which are the water storage reservoirs in the Highland Lakes. The plan is based on projected 10-year water supply demands of all water users in the lower Colorado River basin, and sets forth the methods LCRA uses to allocate water from the lakes during water supply shortages.
Who approves LCRA's Water Management Plan?
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) reviews and approves LCRA's plan. LCRA works closely with water customers and stakeholders in the basin to periodically review the plan and develop proposed revisions to keep pace with growing demands and changed conditions. The current plan was approved by the TCEQ in 1999. Revisions to the plan approved by the LCRA Board in 2002 currently are under review by the TCEQ.
How much water is in the Highland Lakes?
When lakes Buchanan and Travis are full, the Highland Lakes can hold about 2 million acre-feet of water. (An acre-foot is the amount of water needed to cover an area of one acre to a depth of one foot. An acre-foot equals about 326,000 gallons). But the lakes are not usually full, and the amount of water stored in them can rise and fall significantly in a matter of months.
Who owns the water stored in the lower Colorado River and the Highland Lakes?
The State of Texas owns the water and may issue water rights that allow the holder to use a specific amount of water each year from the river and lakes. Under water rights granted to it by the state, LCRA manages the majority of the water rights in the lower Colorado River basin for the people of this region.
Can LCRA use all of the water stored in lakes Buchanan and Travis?
No. The amount that LCRA can use is controlled by the water rights it manages and by the Water Management Plan. Under these rights, LCRA has both "firm" and "interruptible" water supplies that it may sell or otherwise use for various beneficial purposes.
What is the difference between "firm" and "interruptible" water supplies?
The firm water supply is water that will be available to customers even during a drought equal to the worst drought on record, which occurred in the 1950s. Cities, industries and other water customers may reserve firm water supplies for future use so the water will be there when they need it.
The interruptible water supply managed by LCRA is water that may not be available during times of severe drought. To ensure that water is available to meet LCRA's firm water commitments in a severe drought, interruptible supplies can be curtailed, or even cut off completely, from one year to the next depending on how much water is available. Interruptible water supplies primarily are used for agricultural irrigation, mainly rice crops, and to meet environmental needs.
How much firm water supplies are in the Highland Lakes?
Lakes Buchanan and Travis together can provide a reliable firm water supply of up to 535,812 acre-feet a year during a severe drought. LCRA's water rights for lakes Buchanan and Travis enable LCRA to commit up to 445,266 acre-feet a year of this firm water supply for use by cities, industries and other firm water users. It also includes 15,950 acre-feet a year to meet environmental flow needs of the river below Austin and of Matagorda Bay. An additional 90,546 acre-feet a year already is committed to the Colorado River Municipal Water District for O.H. Ivie Reservoir upstream of Lake Buchanan.
How much of LCRA's firm water is under contract or otherwise committed?
As of Oct. 18, 2004, 346,109 acre-feet a year of the 445,266 acre-feet of firm water supplies were under contract or committed for use. In the Water Management Plan revisions being reviewed by the TCEQ, LCRA proposes adding roughly 17,490 acre-feet a year of firm water supply to further meet environmental flow needs, more than doubling this commitment. The LCRA Board of Directors has reserved 50,000 acre-feet a year of firm water supplies to meet future demands. The remaining 31,667 acre-feet a year is not otherwise committed or reserved.
How much water does LCRA's West Travis County Regional Water System use?
Last year the West Travis County Regional Water System used about 2,280 acre-feet. LCRA has committed 144,224 acre-feet a year of firm water supplies for the basin's municipal and industrial obligations, including 4,000 acre-feet a year for the West Travis County Regional Water System. Additional commitments to meet the City of Austin's municipal needs are accounted for separately.
Does LCRA have enough water to expand service in western Travis County?
Yes, water is available, although at some point in the future the LCRA Board of Directors will need to specifically allocate at least 16,000 acre-feet of water to serve projected growth in demands on LCRA's West Travis County Regional Water System over the next 30 years. These supplies will come out of any reserved or uncommitted water supplies LCRA has remaining at that time.
Does LCRA have any other water supplies?
LCRA also manages water rights associated with three irrigation districts in the coastal region of the Colorado River basin. Today, these rights are used solely for irrigation purposes. However, a regional water planning group for the basin, formed by the Texas Water Development Board, anticipates that municipal needs will increase and irrigation needs will decrease in the basin over the next several decades. In future years LCRA may seek regulatory approval from the TCEQ to convert some irrigation water rights to meet growing municipal demands.
Related links:
LCRA revises water management plan for severe droughts.
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