Photo Courtesy Lower Colorado River AuthorityThe Highland Lakes water supply is unlikely to be replenished this summer because of ongoing drought conditions, officials from the Lower Colorado River Authority announced June 24.
LCRA General Manager Becky Motal said the amount of new water flowing into lakes Travis and Buchanan so far this year is on pace with record lows in 2011, and the extended forecast predicts more hot and dry conditions. Consequently, she said, there is not likely to be a significant amount of new water to flow into the lakes, which are currently 38 percent full.
"I have often said a drought is a natural disaster in slow motion," Motal said. "We can't predict when it will end, but we can assure you we will have another flood."
Motal also assured firm water customers—municipal customers such as the city of Austin that have guaranteed contracts for Lake Travis water—that their water supply will not be exhausted. That comes in part from an emergency drought order the LCRA board requested the past two years that cuts off downstream agricultural operations, or interruptible customers, from Highland Lakes water. Both Motal and Scott Spears, an LCRA board member and water operations committee chairman, have suggested such action may again be necessary in 2014 if drought conditions persist.
