LCRA updating Water Management Plan for Highland Lakes

LCRA manages lakes Travis and Buchanan under a state-approved Water Management Plan. LCRA is updating its 2012 application to amend the current plan, which was approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in 2010.

LCRA submitted an application to amend the plan to TCEQ in 2012. In May 2014, TCEQ recommended LCRA consider further changes to its 2012 application. Read the TCEQ draft report.

In August 2014, the LCRA Board of Directors adopted a framework for revising the plan based on TCEQ’s recommendations. After a series of meetings with stakeholders representing interests throughout the basin, the LCRA Board accepted the staff-proposed revisions on Sept. 17, 2014. Read the agenda item.

The changes to the 2012 application will allow LCRA to adapt its operations as drought conditions change. A primary goal of the revisions is to maintain combined storage in lakes Travis and Buchanan above 600,000 acre-feet through a repeat of historic hydrology. The revisions also establish three sets of operating conditions to be used to determine the amount of interruptible water available for agricultural use.

LCRA's Board of Directors adopted the 2012 application to amend the plan on Feb. 22, 2012, and it was submitted to TCEQ on March 12, 2012.

TCEQ declared the plan administratively complete on April 19, 2012, and began conducting technical review. During that process:

• On May 31, 2012, LCRA submitted an updated plan and technical information to TCEQ to address questions from the state agency.
• In August 2012, TCEQ requested more information from LCRA, and LCRA responded on Sept. 10, 2012.
• In November 2012, TCEQ sent a draft final order to LCRA for review and comment. LCRA commented on the draft final order on March 15, 2013.
• In June 2013, TCEQ announced plans to conduct further review of the proposed plan due to the ongoing severe drought conditions.
• TCEQ held a public hearing to hear from stakeholders on June 26, 2013. View the hearing.
• In May 2014, the TCEQ executive director issued a draft report that included further recommended changes to the proposed plan. Read a summary of the executive director's draft report.
• In August 2014, the LCRA Board of Directors adopted a framework for the proposed plan based on TCEQ’s recommended changes. The Board also directed staff to seek input from stakeholders.
• In September 2014, the LCRA Board unanimously approved a proposal for revising its application to amend the Water Management Plan.

​Water Management Plan background

To assist with the update submitted to TCEQ in 2012, 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 in 2011 on many of the recommended changes that went into the Water Management Plan proposed in 2012. LCRA accepted public comment on the plan and reviewed about 450 written comments before approving it and filing the application in 2012. Continued drought and three years of suspension of interruptible supply have brought about wide recognition that further changes to that filing are warranted.

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. TCEQ approved the current version of the Water Management Plan on Jan. 27, 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 drought, the plan requires the curtailment or cutback of interruptible stored water from the Highland Lakes for downstream agriculture so that firm water supplies will be available for the basic needs of cities, businesses and industries. 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 various trigger points.