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| An aerial view of a rice field. A surcharge on sales of the water in Williamson County are funding strategies such as precision-leveling of rice farms to conserve water in the lower Colorado River basin. |
For several decades, LCRA has provided raw water or treated water-utility services to communities in Williamson County, a fast-growing county in Central Texas.
Cedar Park has been a raw water customer of LCRA since the early 1970s, while Leander has been using Colorado River water since the mid-1990s. A portion of the water service areas of both of these Williamson County cities is in the lower Colorado River basin.
While most of Williamson County is outside of the lower Colorado River watershed, authority to provide water to the county is specified by state laws. The Texas Legislature has amended LCRA's enabling legislation to allow LCRA to provide water services outside of its watershed in Williamson and Lampasas counties. Similar authority exists under LCRA’s downstream water rights to use water outside of the Colorado River basin in Wharton and Matagorda counties.
HB 1437 and "no net loss"
In 1999, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1437 to provide up to 25,000 acre-feet of surface water per year for use in specific areas of Williamson County under certain conditions. The legislation requires "no net loss" of water in the Colorado River watershed and authorizes a surcharge on sales of the water to fund strategies to ensure that an equal amount of water is conserved, replaced or offset. LCRA has entered into a contract with the Brazos River Authority to provide this water to Williamson County communities and developed conservation strategies as required by HB 1437 with input from a Agriculture Water Conservation Fund Advisory Committee, a nine-member group of farmers and agricultural experts from Colorado, Wharton and Matagorda counties.
The HB 1437 Agricultural Water Conservation Program provides funds to LCRA's irrigation operations and grants to agriculture producers to implement agricultural water conservation projects.
For more information on Williamson County water contracts and agricultural conservation see:
HB 1437 grant program
In 2006, the LCRA Board adopted the application guidelines, eligibility rules and contract provisions for awarding cost sharing conservation grants from the Ag Fund. These guidelines integrated the NRCS technical specifications and payment certification processes into the requirements for the HB 1437 grant program. The most recent grant funding cycle was in Spring 2009. Another grant funding cycle is anticipated for Spring 2010 and information about that will be posted in early 2010. In 2008, the application guidelines and the cost sharing agreement were amended so that conservation funds for precision leveling are distributed pro rata among qualified candidates rather than limiting the award of grant funds based on a lottery selection system. For more information on these modifications, see the 2008 Annual Report.
Water-utility services
LCRA also provides water and wastewater utility services to Williamson County as part of an alliance with the Brazos River Authority. LCRA owns four wastewater treatment plants in Williamson County, and one water treatment plant, which serve a rapidly growing population. While LCRA owns, manages and finances the systems, the Brazos River Authority operates them.
For more information, check the links under the Williamson County Region in the water and wastewater utilities section.
