Commissioners mull water, LCRA call for volunteer oversight

BURNET — The Lower Colorado River Authority is looking for a few good volunteers — well, 100 actually — to staff a regional council.

That was the word delivered Oct. 24  to the Burnet County Commissioners Court at a meeting related to water issues, which was held at the Herman Brown Free Library near the Courthouse on the Square. 

The commissioners met with officials from LCRA, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Central Texas Groundwater District. 

Public Relations Manager Gail Oliver told attendees the LCRA board will convene next month to appoint more than 100 volunteers to the new Lower Colorado Regional Council. 

The LCRA Regional Council will focus on water quality and recreation concerns and “identify issues where LCRA can be more proactive,” including water conservation and water supply planning, she said. 

The new council will replace the LCRA Lake Advisory Panel Program and cover six regions: Colorado/Matagorda/Wharton; Lake Buchanan, Inks Lake; Lake LBJ, Marble Falls; Pedernales; San Saba, Llano; and Travis, Austin. 

Volunteer input is needed because water issues are so vital to the region, officials said.

LCRA water manager James Kowis said the authority reserves 507,613 acre-feet of water per year for contract commitments, and from that amount, about 143,600 acre-feet goes to municipal and industrial users. 

If LCRA falls short of water supply for upstream users in municipal and industrial centers, the authority can interrupt water supply downstream to agricultural regions and divert it upstream to the cities, Kowis added. 

LCRA may curb water usage for municipal, industrial and agricultural customers if the volume of water falls between 600,000 and 1.1 million acre-feet in its two main reservoirs, Lakes Buchanan and Travis, Kowis said. 

An acre-foot of water is the volume that would cover 1 acre to a depth of 1 foot, about 43,560 cubic feet. 

The amount of water available varies from year to year depending on the weather, and the authority is researching new methods to conserve and distribute water, Kowis said. 

“There are a lot of ideas out there,” Kowis added. “We’re looking at the options and trying to put some numbers to them. How much will it cost is the real bottom line question. Water supplies are not cheap.” 

TCEQ representative Kerrie Qua Hrough said since the 1980s state law has prohibited the commission from allowing the discharge of wastewater less than 10 stream miles from the Highland Lakes. 

Precinct 1 Commissioner Bill Neve suggested the Lower Colorado Regional Water Planning Group K (of which he is a member) could consider whether the law is outdated “given today’s technology.” 

The current law regarding where TCEQ can issue permits for wastewater discharge forces cities to release “a lot of water at a great cost,” Neve told The Daily Tribune. 

Research specialist Brenner Brown from the Texas Water Development Board said Burnet County planners within the Central Texas Groundwater District have recently developed a set of “desirable future conditions” to help the district plan for future control of groundwater. 

The conditions include limiting after 50 years the average draw down of the Glen Rose and Paluxy Aquifers to no more than 1 foot, the Hensell Aquifer to no more than 11 feet and the Hosston Aquifer to no more than 29 feet. 

Water talks would continue in January, Neve said. 

“I think they are very good for the county and very good for our region,” Neve added. “We have to make this (water planning) work for the whole county, whether it is for surface or groundwater.” 

raymond@thepicayune.com

Photo by Raymond V. Whelan