Water
 
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LCRA revises Water Management Plan for severe droughts
Recommendations would curtail coastal crop irrigation earlier in growing season

LCRA has submitted a revised Water Management Plan to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for state approval. (Help in downloading Adobe Acrobat documents.) The plan is revised to keep pace with growing water demands and to better ensure the availability of water for cities, industries, farmers and environmental inflow needs during a severe drought in the Colorado River basin.

The water management plan describes how to allocate water during water supply shortages. It directs the curtailment of interruptible water supplies so that demands for firm stored water are fully met. LCRA takes action at designated points as the lake levels drop.

If approved, the revisions to the plan will require LCRA to curtail interruptible water supplies earlier during a drought, while still providing water to coastal farmers for the critical first rice crop of the growing season and to meet certain environmental needs.

The revisions are designed to help meet several needs during periods of drought. During such periods, the revisions would:

  • curtail water supplies for second rice crops by about 42 percent over current levels;
  • maintain current total committed water supplies for instream flows to protect water quality downstream of Austin; and
  • identify best practices for management of freshwater inflows to Matagorda Bay.

The plan governs LCRA's operation of the Highland Lakes to meet the needs of major water users throughout the lower Colorado River basin. LCRA reviews the plan periodically to keep pace with growing water demands.

Increased municipal water demand
LCRA proposed the latest changes in response to a significant increase in projected municipal water demands over the next 10 years. LCRA staff developed the recommendations and worked with a 26-member advisory committee that represented major stakeholders, including municipal and industrial users, farmers, environmental groups, lake and river recreation interests, and state and federal regulatory agencies.

A major issue during the revision process centered on the amount of fresh water the bay requires to maintain a healthy ecosystem. That is the subject of a new interagency study by LCRA, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas Water Development Board and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
DROUGHT PLAN REVISED

As a holder of municipal and irrigation water rights, LCRA is required by House Bill 2663 to revise its Drought Contingency Plan. These revisions require LCRA to incorporate specific, quantified targets for water use reductions during periods of water shortage. View the revisions to the Drought Contingency Plan. The revisions were submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) in April 2005.

These proposed revisions spell out specific changes to LCRA's complete Drought Contingency Plan, which is included in Chapter 4 and in a table in the preface of its updated Water Management Plan (WMP). In May 2003, LCRA filed this updated WMP with the TCEQ.
FYI

LCRA water supply experts develop and follow a Water Management Plan that is approved by the state of Texas to make the best use of limited water supplies. The plan governs operation of lakes Buchanan and Travis and is reviewed periodically to keep pace with growing water demands and improved information.