No water for interruptible water customers in Colorado, Wharton and Matagorda counties in Texas
8/16/2023 12:00:00 AM
CATEGORIES:
Agriculture
Relief, Response & Restrictions
Water Supply & Quality
AFFECTED AREAS:
Colorado County, TX
Matagorda County, TX
Wharton County, TX
Start Date: 3/2/2023
- End Date: 12/31/2023
The Lower Colorado River Authority announced that Highland Lakes water will not be available in 2023 for most of its agricultural customers in Colorado, Wharton and Matagorda counties. Severe drought continues in the Texas Hill Country, affecting inflows and levels in the region’s water supply reservoirs at Lake Buchanan and Lake Travis. Agricultural customers in the Gulf Coast, Lakeside and Pierce Ranch operations lost access to Highland Lakes water this year, due to drought intensity and duration and the amount of water in the lakes. The combined water storage in Lakes Buchanan and Travis on March 1 was 1.037 million acre-feet, about 52% of capacity.
LCRA remains in Stage 1 of its Drought Contingency Plan for Firm Water Customers, which began in July 2022. The combined storage in Lakes Buchanan and Travis was 1.2 million acre-feet, below the trigger of 1.4 million acre-feet, and interruptible supplies were curtailed. LCRA requested its firm customers voluntarily reduce their water use by 5% in July 2022.
KXAN-TV NBC 36 (Austin, Texas), March 2, 2023
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