The Lower Colorado River Authority is reconsidering a recommendation that would have sent Lake Travis water downstream to rice farmers.

On Dec. 20, LCRA General Manager Becky Motal asked the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to delay taking any action on the board-approved emergency relief application submitted following a Nov. 14 board meeting. The recommendation would have released up to 121,500 acre-feet of lake water for agricultural irrigation if Highland Lakes combined storage reached at least 775,000 acre-feet on Jan. 1 or March 1.

Lake capacity was a combined 825,000 acre-feet—or 41 percent—as of Jan. 2, meaning the emergency plan that gained board approval Nov. 14 would have potentially been enacted come mid-March when irrigation season begins.

"Since that time, rainfall in the watershed of the Highland Lakes has been negligible, and inflows to the lakes have remained extremely low," Motal said in a statement to TCEQ Executive Director Zak Covar. "In fact, inflows for November 2012 were lower than in 2011 and were the second-lowest on record."

December inflows were also on track to be among the lowest on record, Motal stated. The perpetually dry conditions likely forced the board to call the Jan. 8 special meeting, she said.

"At that meeting, staff anticipates that the board may direct staff to seek modifications to its request for emergency relief that is more protective of the firm water supply than the pending application," Motal said in the statement.

TCEQ approved a similar emergency relief application for 2012 that prevented water from flowing downstream to rice farmers if lake levels were below 850,000 acre-feet. Since the Nov. 14 recommendation that the threshold be lowered to 775,000 acre-feet for 2013, a number of Lake Travis–area advocates have voiced their displeasure with the LCRA decision.

State Sens. Troy Fraser and Kirk Watson sent LCRA board Chairman Tim Timmerman a two-page letter Dec. 11 requesting the same emergency order sought for last year. The letter claimed the lower cutoff trigger essentially put municipal water supplies in danger and went against the LCRA's mission to satisfy the demands of all firm water customers—such as municipalities with guaranteed water contracts—before serving the needs of interruptible customers such as rice farmers in southeastern Texas.

In addition to pressure from state politicians, municipal firm water supply customers have also started forming a coalition that will likely include Burnet, Cedar Park, Lakeway, Leander, Marble Falls and Pflugerville, among others. The City of Austin will likely participate in an advisory role with the coalition, according to Leander city documents. Leander City Council is scheduled to review the resolution at its Jan. 3 meeting. Approval would allow the council to appoint someone to the newly formed coalition.

Lake-area residents have also chimed in since the Nov. 14 board meeting in Fredericksburg. Sandy Neilson-Bell, an Austin resident, swimming enthusiast and lake-area business owner, is among several people to form an online petition at www.rememberwater.com. Neilson-Bell said she hopes the effort places more focus on the issue with Austin-area water customers—particularly those who risk severe water rationing if lake levels continue to decline.

"It's not about fisherman versus rice farmers," she said. "It's about Austin's water, and Austin has a contract for water, as do over 140 municipalities and other businesses that are supposed to be honored first and foremost."

There will also be public service announcements that will air in the Austin-area television market, Neilson-Bell said.

LCRA is scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. Jan. 8 at the LCRA general office complex board room, 3700 Lake Austin Blvd., Austin.