State agencies likely to meet again to determine if lake levels have risen enough for use in irrigation

After hearing a wide range of recommendations for emergency drought relief, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality opted to instead set its own standards for managing the Highland Lakes water during the ongoing drought.

TCEQ commissioners voted unanimously Feb. 26 to cut off downstream rice farmers for 120 days, effective Jan. 27, because of extensive drought conditions.

"We need to deal with the situation in front of us and not do anything further than that," TCEQ Commissioner Toby Baker said. "I do not believe we should set a trigger level today."

The Feb. 26 ruling does not set a trigger point for allowing water to flow downstream, unlike the past two years of emergency drought relief when an 850,000 acre-feet minimum combined storage level of the Highland Lakes was needed to allow water to flow downstream. The issue will likely be revisited later this year to determine if lake levels have improved enough to allow irrigation water to flow downstream in time for the latter half of the rice crop season.

"Evidence very convincingly shows the drought is very likely to occur at very extreme levels, and the period of time that will continue is very difficult to estimate," said Bill Newchurch, one of two state administrative judges assigned to mediate the case. "It could be a very long time."

The Lower Colorado River Authority board voted 8-7 on Jan. 27 to cut off rice farmers if combined storage in lakes Travis and Buchanan failed to reach 1.1 million acre-feet by

March 1, while two state ALJs recommended Feb. 21 that a 1.4 million acre-feet trigger point be set.

The lakes' combined storage hovered around 760,000 acre-feet, or 38 percent of capacity, in early March, well below either proposed trigger point.

Before TCEQ opted to set no trigger point, LCRA attorney Lyn Clancy told commissioners that 1.4 million acre-feet was too high a level to justify, while an 850,000 acre-feet trigger point proposed by downstream rice farming proponents was too risky, she said. Clancy instead endorsed LCRA's original recommendation of 1.1 million acre-feet, or 55 percent of the lakes' capacity.

There is no telling how long the drought may last, said Ross Crowe, an attorney for Austin Water Utility. State climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon estimated in 2011 the drought could last between three to

15 years, an estimate LCRA's own meteorologist does not dispute, Crowe said. Because of this risk, he called for a conservative approach to protecting the Austin-area water supply.

"That water supply simply cannot be replaced any time soon," Crowe said. "Those are the kinds of facts the judges heard and found so compelling that they made a judgment call that we need a refill of at least 1.4 million acre-feet."

Previous actions

Rather than setting a trigger point Feb. 26, TCEQ followed a practice similar to July 2013 when it granted emergency drought relief without a set trigger point. In the motion approved by commissioners, trigger levels were deemed to be "insufficient" when determining any imminent threat to public health and safety—the criteria needed to grant emergency relief.

The emergency order approved by TCEQ supersedes existing regulations, which require LCRA to cut off irrigation water to rice farmers once lake levels drop below 600,000 acre-feet.

At that point, firm water customers, mostly municipalities that have paid for guaranteed water, would be forced to curtail water usage by 20 percent.

LCRA board members voted 8-7 to ask the state for emergency relief after contentious debate Nov. 19. TCEQ Executive Director Richard A. Hyde announced his support for the relief request on Jan. 27.

The emergency order expires in late May, before which LCRA will need to re-apply for emergency drought relief to gain any potential extension from TCEQ.

In the meantime, LCRA is requiring all its firm customers to limit lawn watering to once per week, a requirement already set in most Central Texas municipalities. This is the first time LCRA has set any such regulations on its raw water users.

LCRA considers increasing water rates

The Lower Colorado River Authority is in the process of considering whether to review water rates for firm customers, mostly Central Texas municipalities, and interruptible customers such as downstream rice farmers. Any increase in rates would go toward covering the cost of supplying water, according to an LCRA news release, particularly a proposed reservoir in Wharton County. LCRA is meeting with customers throughout the spring. Comments can be submitted atwww.lcra.org.