A new reservoir similar to Lake Travis will be built along the Colorado River by 2017.
Lower Colorado River Authority board members on Sept. 17 unanimously approved funding for the Lane City Reservoir Project, a $214.9 million man-made lake that will be built in Wharton County near the Gulf of Mexico. The reservoir will be drastically smaller than Lake Travis—taking up about 1,000 acres, while Lake Travis covers about 19,300 acres—and will be located off-channel from the Colorado River.
"We know we can't fix the drought, but the key to our problems, in my opinion, is conservation, but it's also developing new water supplies, and we're doing that," LCRA board Chairman Tim Timmerman said, eluding to the board's goal of producing 100,000 acre-feet of new water supply by 2017. "With this action, we will accomplish that [goal]."
The board earlier this year approved groundwater wells in Bastrop County that produce 10,000 acre-feet of water per year to help LCRA meet its 100,000 acre-feet goal.
The Lane City Reservoir will operate similar to Lake Travis and the rest of the Highland Lakes, which were initially created for flood control and water storage. The reservoir will be able to hold 40,000 acre-feet of water at one time—compared with 1.1 million acre-feet of capacity in Lake Travis—and up to 90,000 acre-feet per year, according to LCRA staff.
"It is the first reservoir that would be built in this basin in over 70 years," said Karen Bondy, executive manager of water resources, during a Sept. 16 LCRA work session.
However, because the Lane City Reservoir is located downstream of Austin, the project will help many of LCRA's lower basin customers—mostly firm water energy customers and interruptible agriculture users.
However, by having a reservoir downstream to catch water that flows south of Lake Travis—such as the "rain bomb" that dropped over Barton Creek in October 2013—that means less water will need to be released from the Austin-area reservoirs for downstream customers and environmental needs.
"I'm here to say [the project] benefits everyone," said LCRA board Vice Chairman John Dickerson, who represents nearby Matagorda County. "This will help keep [Highland Lakes] levels higher, which reduces the likelihood of curtailment, helps Matagorda Bay and reduces demands on the Highland Lakes."
The board approved $179.9 million for spending in addition to $35 million approved earlier this year. The money helps cover construction, repairs to an existing Lane City dam and other system improvements.
Construction is on schedule to be complete by 2017, resulting in 20 percent more firm water supply, Timmerman said.
"I would like to challenge this board to work on the next 100,000 acre-feet [of new water supply]," he said.
Water management plan approved
LCRA board members also unanimously agreed Sept. 17 to advance the agency's proposed water management plan to the state for final approval.
The revised plan received minor tweaks during the past month after stakeholders from the lower side of the Colorado River basin requested more time to review the proposal. Consequently, LCRA hosted three meetings that attracted stakeholders throughout the basin, resulting in a plan that both Austin-area lakes interests and downstream agriculture users could agree upon.
"I think what we've brought you today is a better product than what we started out with even in August and appears to enjoy more support from stakeholders," said John Hofmann, LCRA executive vice president of water, during the board's Sept. 16 work session.
