WILSON: The LCRA's Water Plan is Working – Just as Designed


As reservoirs, Lakes Travis & Buchanan are doing exactly what they are designed to do

By Phil Wilson

AUSTIN, Texas (Texas Insider Report) — 
In recent weeks, some entities have encouraged the Lower Colorado River Authority to immediately begin updating its Water Management Plan, two and a half years before its scheduled update and before any of the triggers that would warrant an earlier update.

I understand the concern, given how hot and dry our region has been for months, but I want to reassure Texans who depend on water from the Highland Lakes and lower Colorado River that while this drought is serious and concerning, our water situation, and specifically our drinking water supply, is in good shape.

Though we have seen extremely hot days and haven’t had significant rain in months, our water supply reservoirs are still more than 50% full.
 
Lakes Travis (at right,) and Buchanan, the two water supply reservoirs in the Highland Lakes, capture water during wet times for use during dry times like these. That means the lakes can and will fluctuate significantly from year to year – and sometimes even month to month or week to week during serious droughts.

By fluctuating, the reservoirs are doing exactly what they are designed to do – providing a reliable water supply to sustain our region until we see significant rainfall.

Likewise, the 2020 Water Management Plan also is working the way it was designed.

The plan was a collaborative effort that included hundreds of hours of work from a group of diverse and sometimes-competing interests from throughout the region. No one, including those who participated in drawing up the plan, protested the plan when it was put before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for approval.

The plan is forward-looking, designed to meet the demands expected in the year 2025, and to date the actual usages we have seen are below those 2025 projections. As spelled out in the plan, the update process must begin no later than 2025, or within a year of the time water use:
 
  • Reaches the normal/average-use demands projected for 2025 two years in a row, or
  • Reaches 90% of the max/high-use demands projected for 2025 in a single year.
Yearly water use has not yet reached either normal/average-use demands or max/high-use demands projected for 2025.

When water use data for 2022 is available early next year, we will evaluate where we are in relation to those triggers to determine whether beginning the update process is warranted.

Phil Wilson became the Lower Colorado River Authority's 11th General Manager on Feb. 3rd, 2014. Prior to joining LCRA, Wilson served as Executive Director of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT.)

















 
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