The Lower Colorado River Authority on March 28 announced it has responded to public feedback and revised its proposed hike in raw-water withdrawal costs for municipal customers.
LCRA's new proposed rate is $175.46 per acre-foot of raw water, less than the board's original proposed increase to $179 per acre-foot.
Cities that withdraw water from Lake Travis currently pay $151 per acre-foot of raw water. City utility departments then bill customers based on the raw-water rate. Cedar Park and Leander city leaders have said that if raw-water rates increase, the cities will likely raise customers' water bills.
For interruptible customers including rice farmers south of Austin, the revised rate increases would move toward achieving full cost recovery, LCRA said. Rates for the Gulf Coast division would increase from $28.42 to $54.43 per acre-foot. Lakeside rates would increase from $38.53 to $52.91 and Garwood rates would increase from $32.81 to $41.98. Garwood rates could be changed through a separate process and could retroactively apply to 2014 rates, LCRA said.
