Water
 
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Drought-contingency plans

Low water at Buchanan Dam early 2007To buy water from LCRA, many of the largest customers are required to develop and submit to LCRA an approved plan that spells out how they will respond during a drought — a frequent occurance in semi-arid Central and South Texas.
Through the use of conservation and beneficial reuse of finite water supplies, these drought-contingency plans can help to extend surface and groundwater supplies and help ensure there is enough clean water within LCRA's water service area even during times of extremely dry weather. 
Unless specifically excluded in the plan rules, the requriements apply to all customers with LCRA water contracts, including:

q&a: DROUGHT-CONTINENCY PLANS

What is a drought-contingency plan?
It is a combination of strategies for management responses to water supply shortages and other water supply emergencies.

What governmental agencies require these drought plans?
Developing a drought plan is not just an LCRA requirement; it is required by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. (For reference, see the Texas Administrative Code, Title 30, Environmental Quality, Chapter 288, Subchapter B: Drought Contingency Plans. )

  • Wholesale public water suppliers
  • Retail public water suppliers
  • Industrial and mining customers
  • Agricultural irrigation operations
  • Golf courses
  • Commercial recreational water users

Note: The rules do not apply to water contracts for uses other than municipal use that have a maximum annual quantity of 10 acre-feet or less and a term of three years or less. 

These plans have minimum requirements, including: drought response stages with minimum targets for water conservation and notifying LCRA and TCEQ within five days of implementing any of the mandatory parts of the plan.

Below are links to sample drought-continency plans and links to the full-text of LCRA's rules for water contracts and drought-continency plans. If you have any additional questions, contact LCRA's Dean Minchillo at (512) 473-3200, Ext. 2114, or e-mail waterconservation@lcra.org.

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