General manager of the Lower Colorado River Authority

Created by the Texas Legislature in 1934, the Lower Colorado River Authority manages the water supply for residents, farmers and businesses along 600 miles of the Colorado River from San Saba to the Gulf of Mexico.

The agency manages those supplies during both floods and droughts throughout the region and also sells electricity and water to more than 40 utilities. According to LCRA, that electricity service area covers nearly 30,000 square miles and serves more than 1 million people in 55 counties.

General Manager Becky Motal has worked for LCRA for 27 years. Among other aspects, her job includes working to educate customers on the importance of being aware of their water use, how to conserve water and how to make the best use of limited water supplies during a drought.

"I think education is the most important thing we can do—get people aware of where their water comes from," Motal said when she visited Community Impact Newspaper. "Water is a precious commodity, but we all need to be mindful that it needs to be shared. Know what your water restrictions are and follow them. Be a leader. Be an example."

How can residents help conserve water during the drought?

Be mindful of how you use water. If you've got a water leak, get it fixed. Watch your irrigation system. Water only when you're supposed to, and water only during the hours you're supposed to—don't water at noon when it's 100 degrees outside. It's not about the rice farmers anymore.

Every water drop that we can save helps us extend the amount that we have available. It will rain again; I've worked at LCRA for 27 years and we've had more floods than droughts, so it will rain again.

What is the "drought of record," and how do we compare to that now?

The drought of record is a term, but it also references a period of the worst drought in Texas' history, from the period of about 1947 to 1957. We benchmark any drought against that. We are currently in a very serious drought. In our opinion, we are not in a drought worse than the drought of record, but if this continues into next year with the very significantly low inflows into the Highland Lakes, we could potentially hit that trigger, and our board would be asked to declare a drought worse than the drought of record.

What mandatory curtailments would take place if we were to hit that point?

The base plan—developed in early 2000, filed with the [Texas Commission on Environmental Quality] in 2003 and approved in 2010—dictates curtailment curves as to how we manage the lakes. It's based on inflows into Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan.

At certain levels of combined storage in those lakes, we have certain triggers. We ask people to conserve or we start limiting some flows. We may start to curtail interruptible flows. If [storage levels] hit 600,000 acre-feet we would be required to ask the board of LCRA to declare a drought worse than the drought of record.