LCRA is updating its state-approved Water Management Plan for lakes Travis and Buchanan to make it more flexible and responsive to the growing demands in the lower Colorado River basin. The Water Management Plan determines how water is allocated from the lakes that serve as the region's water supply reservoirs.

To assist with this update, as in previous updates, LCRA assembled an advisory committee to represent the diverse interests that rely on Highland Lakes water. The advisory committee included representatives from cities, industry, lake area businesses and residents, the environment and farmers. The committee began its work in July 2010 and spent more than a year investigating and discussing how to best balance the demands on the Highland Lakes.

The committee came to a consensus and near consensus on many of the recommended changes in the proposed Water Management Plan. LCRA's Board of Directors must approve the proposed plan before forwarding it to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for final approval. The Board will consider the plan after a public comment period.

If the new plan is approved, it will replace the current version of the Water Management Plan that the TCEQ approved Jan. 27, 2010.

LCRA's Water Management Plan is the only one of its kind in the state. It was required by the 1989 court settlement that determined the water rights for the Highland Lakes. The state approved the first Water Management Plan in 1989. Updates were approved in 1992, 1999 and 2010.

The Water Management Plan governs LCRA's operation of the Highland Lakes to meet the needs of major water users throughout the lower Colorado River basin. Specifically, the Water Management Plan prescribes how to allocate water during water supply shortages. During severe drought, the plan directs the curtailment (or cutback) of Highland Lakes water for downstream agriculture so that water will be available for the basic needs of cities, businesses and industries. Under the plan, LCRA and its customers take actions at designated points, known as "trigger points," as water storage levels drop. The plan also prescribes how LCRA must provide water from the lakes to help meet the environmental needs of the lower Colorado River and Matagorda Bay at these various trigger points.

View the drought trigger points in the 2010 Water Management Plan.