LCRA outlines multi-billion-dollar water-supply options, from aquifer storage to East Texas transfers

At the Sept. 24 Water Operations Committee meeting, LCRA staff presented a multi-part briefing on potential and in‑flight water-supply projects intended to meet long-term demand in the upper reach of the Colorado River basin. Monica Masters, LCRA staff, said the authority’s Water Supply Resource Report (WSRR) recommends “a target of new firm water supply of 60,000 acre feet for the upper reach by 2040.”

Why it matters: committee members were shown planning options that range from lower-cost conservation measures and groundwater development to very large, multi‑billion‑dollar projects that would require broad partnerships and likely state or federal participation. Phil (LCRA staff) prefaced the presentation by emphasizing the intent to show “what if” scenarios and said explicitly, “some of these projects are just what ifs. Some are real.”

Staff described four broad categories of supply strategies. First, capture-and-store strategies that keep Colorado River water in the basin for later use, including aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) and conceptual off‑channel reservoirs (OCRs). ASR was estimated to yield roughly 22,000 acre‑feet of firm yield with capital costs near $900 million to $1 billion. Conceptual OCRs (locations considered included Bastrop, Fayette and Colorado counties) were…