Motion to adopt water management resolution dies

Concerns over bureaucratic procedure halted the progress of a water management resolution that came onto Hays County Commissioners’ desks on Tuesday.

“I am always remiss when it comes to a resolution directing another agency on how to run their business,” said Commissioner Walt Smith, over a resolution proposed by the Central Texas Water Coalition (CTWC) to accelerate updating the Lower Colorado River Association (LCRA) Water Management Plan.

“We had some conversations last week, actually initially I was thinking about maybe co-sponsoring it with you,” Smith added, referring to Judge Becerra’s earlier motion to pass the resolution. “But I do have some concerns, not necessarily over LCRA itself, but some of the involvement.”

“It’s an extremely complicated situation,” offered Commissioner Lon Shell.

The commissioners’ feedback followed remarks from Jo Karr Tedder, president and founder of the CTWC at the Hays County Commissioners Court meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 9.

Tedder approached the podium to ask Hays County Commissioners to support the CTWC’s resolution. The resolution calls for the LCRA to make provisions for conservation by all water users, prepare for greatly increased water demands, and obtain information on causes for dramatic declines in water.

Tedder said the trigger levels, or thresholds for updating the plan, are “not enough to protect us.”

“We’re Texas, we’re not California, but we’re also silly if we don’t look at what is happening there,” she said.

LCRA manages the water in lakes Travis and Buchanan, the primary water supply for a region containing over a million people, under a state-approved Water Management Plan (WMP), according to their website.

The WMP has been in place since a court order required it in the late 1980s, according to John Hofmann, LCRA executive vice president of Water. Revisions were approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) or its predecessors in 1991, 1992, 1999, 2010, and 2015.

Dripping Springs, Hays County WCID #1, and Hays County WCID #2 are among several customers LCRA has throughout Central Texas.

In drought conditions, the plan requires the LCRA to cut off or cut back water for interruptible agricultural customers in the lower basin to protect firm water supplies for the basic needs of cities and industries.

In 2019, the LCRA submitted a plan that reduced the maximum amount of interruptible stored water for downstream agriculture to 178,000 acre-feet (a-f) for the first growing season and an additional 66,000 acre-feet for the second season.

According to the WMP, triggers for beginning the next update include that the process must begin no later than 2025, or within a year of the time of water use:

•Reaches the normal/average-use demands projected for 2025 two years in a row,

•Reaches 90% of the max/high-use demands projected for 2025 in a single year.

“The yearly demands we’ve seen to date have been below the year 2025 projections,” said Hofmann.

Lake Travis and Buchanan are 57% full and currently hold about 1,135,793 acre-feet of water, according to the latest report from LCRA. The maximum combined conservation storage for both lakes is 1.95 million a-f from May to October and 2 million a-f from November to April.

LCRA also reported that July inflows totaled 586 a-f, about 1% of the July historical average and about 2% of the July historical median.

Following the report, LCRA determined that water would not be available for the Gulf Coast, Lakeside, and Pierce Ranch agricultural operations for the second growing season of 2022.

“There is no question this drought is serious,” stated Hofmann. “Inflows into the Highland Lakes are at historic lows. We’ve also had well-below-average rainfall throughout our basin since last fall.

However, it’s important to note that even with historic low inflows and triple-digit heat for weeks on end, our water supply is still at more than 1.13 million acre-feet. The lakes are functioning as designed — capturing water during rainier times for use during drier times such as these. The WMP also is functioning as designed — curtailing interruptible uses of water to allow us to continue to meet the needs of firm water customers.”

Smith said he spoke with the LCRA and was assured “their timetable is sooner rather than later,” and updates to the WMP could happen this fall.

“When the 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,” said Hofmann. “As such, we do not plan to begin the update process at this time.”

To learn more about drought restrictions, contact your local water supplier.

Read the full resolution here:  https://bit.ly/3QIEX2Q