The Lower Colorado River Authority and the cities of Cedar Park and Leander have a relationship that extends beyond recent plans to create a transmission line down Hero Way and Ronald Reagan Boulevard.

The Texas Legislature created the LCRA in 1934 to complete what would become the Buchanan Dam, manage the water of the lower Colorado River, generate electricity and develop parks, according to the authority’s website.

When Cedar Park was incorporated in 1973, the LCRA was immediately set up as the city’s water supplier, Cedar Park public information officer Jennie Huerta said.

“They’ve been a very reliable supplier,” said Daron Butler, Cedar Park’s director of business services. “Even during the drought, they were a reliable supplier.”

Now, the LCRA operates the six dams on the Colorado River that create the Highland Lakes, LCRA spokesperson Clara Tuma said.

The LCRA measures water in acre-feet; 1 acre-foot is equal to the volume of water 1 foot deep and 1 acre in area. As of June 27, Lake Travis held 1,069,163 acre-feet, a volume that fluctuates based on water levels, according to that morning’s river operations report.

The LCRA sells raw water from the Colorado River to many nearby cities. Leander started purchasing water through the LCRA in the early 2000s, and uses around 8,000 acre-feet per year, Leander public information officer Mike Neu said.

Prior to working with the LCRA, Leander residents got their water from a utility district and wells. Cagle said the water pressure left much to be desired. People would install sprinklers that would not work because of the pressure, and on some days, they may or may not have been able to even take a shower.

“A lot of people who move here now have no knowledge of that,” Leander City Manager Kent Cagle said.

The city of Leander reserves an additional 16,000 acre-feet that are not used each year, but saved for future growth, Neu said.

“If you didn’t [reserve water] and someone else were to purchase that water, we have nowhere to go,” Cagle said. “The groundwater here is not adequate by any means. We secured water while it was available.”

Leander’s water customers pay a base rate depending on the size of their meter, starting at $37.35 for a 5/8-inch meter, Leander Public Works Director Pat Womack said. Customers are charged also $4.91 for each 1,000 gallons of metered water usage, according to the city’s code of ordinances. They also pay a water reservation charge at a flat rate of $5 per month, Neu said.

Cedar Park residents pay a base rate of $17.77 for the first 2,000 gallons, and a tiered rate after that, according to residential utility billing rates posted online by the city government. The city’s contract with the LCRA is for 18,000 acre-feet of raw water per year, Huerta said.

The LCRA charges Leander and Cedar Park $145 per acre-foot of water used and $72.50 per acre-foot of water reserved annually.

The city of Cedar Park collaborates frequently with the LCRA to create water conservation campaigns, Huerta said. For example, an LCRA staff member appears in some of Cedar Park’s videos promoting water conservation tips.

“We work closely with Leander and Cedar Park, as we do with all our customers, to help solve issues confronting our region related to water, power and other important community issues,” Tuma said.

In addition to water, the LCRA generates raw electricity that is sold to the Pedernales Electric Cooperative, which in turn sells electricity to Cedar Park and Leander, Cagle said.

The LCRA also operates transmission facilities and metering services across Texas through the LCRA Transmission Services Corporation, Tuma said. The new transmission line in production will service Leander, Cedar Park and Round Rock residents. The project sparked debate when neighborhood residents objected to the transmission line’s proposed routes.