LCRA decision favors downstream irrigators, advocates say

The so-called "aqua cliff" may have been avoided after the Lower Colorado River Authority board voted Nov. 14 to endorse emergency drought relief that would potentially provide water downstream for southeastern Texas rice farmers.

LCRA's application for emergency drought relief was sent Nov. 21 to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. If TCEQ's executive director agrees to hear the proposed emergency drought order, the commission then has 20 days to approve or deny the request. No such action has been taken as of Community Impact Newspaper's deadline Dec. 7, leaving it unclear whether the matter will be solved by year's end.

Water Operations Committee Chairman Scott Spears said the river basin risks facing the worst drought on record—or the "aqua cliff," as he coined it—unless the board approved his proposed plan to make available 121,500 acre-feet of water for agricultural irrigation if there is at least 775,000 acre-feet of combined storage in lakes Travis and Buchanan on either Jan. 1 or March 1.

LCRA held a two-day meeting focused largely on the issue. The vast majority of the 200-plus attendees were in opposition to allowing lake water to flow downstream, including representatives from Austin, Cedar Park, Leander, Volente, Lakeway and the Steiner Ranch subdivision.

The board voted 10-4 to accept the resolution, which Spears said helped avoid reverting back to the 2010 water management plan that could have allowed at least 180,000 acre-feet of water to flow downstream.

Instead, the board is avoiding "disaster," board Chairman Timothy Timmerman said, by not reverting to the 2010 approved plan and instead opting for a plan similar to the 2012 pending plan that is circulating through TCEQ.

Under the pending emergency plan, downstream rice farmers—if water does flow downstream in 2013—would be able to operate at 50 percent to 60 percent of normal capacity, said Ronald Gertson, a rice farmer and chairman of the Colorado Water Issues Committee, which represents the rice farmers. That is welcome relief, he said, after receiving practically no irrigation water this year.

Janet Caylor, Riviera Marina and Lakeway Marina co-owner and Central Texas Water Coalition member, expressed equal dismay toward the board's decision, suggesting LCRA overstepped its legal obligations by not providing water to all the authority's firm—or guaranteed—customers such as municipalities that use lake water for consumption and public health purposes. State Sens. Troy Fraser, Troy Watson and state Rep. Paul Workman, all of whom represent western Travis County, each sided with Caylor, with Fraser going as far as threatening action at the state level to ensure LCRA follows through on its appointed mission.

Without any new water flowing into lakes Travis and Buchanan, the Highland Lakes will enter into the worst drought on record, Caylor said.

"The rice farmers are being treated as firm customers despite what the law says," Caylor said. "And now the lake area stands to lose thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue and property value."