Advisory committee tackles hard realities of region's growing water demand

Members of the Water Management Plan Advisory Committee Tuesday began grappling with the harsh reality presented by growing demands on the water of the Highland Lakes.

The 16-member advisory committee is helping LCRA update the plan that determines how water from lakes Travis and Buchanan is allocated in times of drought. The committee is comprised of members who represent the major groups that depend on the Highland Lakes. It has been meeting since July and shifted Tuesday from educating itself on the issues to examining possible scenarios for curtailing or cutting back water to certain customers during drought.

The goal is to come out with a plan that balances the needs of the major interests: cities, industry, environment, agriculture and lake-area businesses and residents. The group has discussed the balancing in terms of "shared pain" or, in the words of one member Tuesday, helping create a plan that is "equally disagreeable to all of us."

The Highland Lakes supply water for 1.1 million people in Central Texas as well as water for farming, industry and the environment. The lakes also draw many boaters, anglers and other visitors that support a strong business community that is concerned about the effect of drought on lake levels.

Cities buy "firm" water from LCRA, which should be available through a repeat of the worst drought on record, called the Drought of Record. Farmers buy "interruptible" water from LCRA, which is significantly less expensive than firm water, but can be curtailed during drought and even cut off in a severe drought. The triggers that determine who must reduce water use and when are contained in the Water Management Plan and are generally based on the combined storage of lakes Travis and Buchanan.

The committee is reviewing scenarios that represent different alternatives for when and how "interruptible" water supplies will be cut back or curtailed during droughts. More scenarios will be developed and evaluated in the coming months as committee members suggest changes to how the lakes are managed. LCRA's staff will plug those suggestions into a complex computer model that simulates the Highland Lakes system using future water demand and historical hydrology allowing members to see how each suggestion affects each of the interests and the water supplies in the lakes.

A scenario presented Tuesday prompted what one committee member characterized as a "really difficult discussion." Members from multiple interest groups said the scenario didn't meet their needs. All agreed that the committee's work from here on out would become more difficult as members delve into the tough issues involved in updating the Water Management Plan.

Among the emerging issues discussed Tuesday:

• How low the lakes could potentially get in a serious drought. In the recent two-year drought, when water levels fell so dramatically that marinas were forced to move, the combined storage dropped to less than 800,000 acre-feet. Low lake levels also pose problems for cities that could have to move their water intake infrastructures to continue providing water to their residents.
• Whether "open supply," or the notion that water releases for farmers are not limited when the lakes are near full, should be reconsidered.
• Whether scenarios that meet only minimum environmental standards for extended periods of time are acceptable. One committee member representing the environment said that the minimum flow levels for the river and Matagorda Bay outlined in recent environmental studies are just enough to keep species alive during a drought and said that an extended period at those levels is "a big concern."
• How to encourage conservation in a way that keeps the benefits with those who conserve. For example, representatives from area cities said it is harder to persuade their citizens to conserve during drought when the water might then be sent downstream for agricultural irrigation.
• Whether triggers to cut back water use should be applicable more often throughout the year to better manage the available supplies by providing a quicker response to changing climatic and hydrologic conditions. Under the current plan, many of the management decisions are based on the amount of water in the lakes on Jan. 1 of each year.
• Whether triggers in the plan that would curtail or cut back water to interruptible customers, mostly farmers and the environment, should be indexed to current water use from lakes Travis and Buchanan. Currently, the committee is considering using projected demands or water use for the year 2020 in the plan. Indexing to actual use would allow the curtailment to grow at the same pace as actual demand.
  
  

Committee members repeatedly said that the only real solution to all the issues was for LCRA to find more water supplies. However, this committee is tasked with finding consensus on potential updates to the Water Management Plan, not finding new water supplies. LCRA is addressing this issue. Last year, LCRA's Board of Directors approved a Water Supply Resource Plan that will act as a roadmap for meeting the region's water supply needs to the year 2100. The Board has also directed staff to come up with strategies to specifically reduce the water shortages projected for downstream agriculture. A draft plan is scheduled to be complete later this summer.

"We are really focused at LCRA on trying to find water supply options for the future," said James Kowis, LCRA Water Supply Strategist.

LCRA will meet with each interest group separately in the next month to discuss technical details specific to each interest group. LCRA's Board of Directors and ultimately the Texas Committee on Environmental Quality must approve the new plan. The committee, which is trying to reach consensus on recommendations, is scheduled to complete its work in June. However, the committee members earlier this month asked the LCRA Board whether it would consider extending the process by a couple of months if needed. LCRA Directors were receptive to discussing this recommendation at a later meeting.

The advisory committee will hold its next meeting Feb. 23 at McKinney Roughs Nature Park. For more information on the Water Management Plan or the Advisory Committee please go to www.lcra.org/watermanagementplan.