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Leander public works warns drought could force emergency barge use; deep-water intake work to extend supply
Summary
City utilities staff told council that prolonged drought and low Highland Lakes inflows could require use of emergency barge sources this year unless lake levels recover; long‑term deep-water intake and treatment projects are under way with expected completion in 2027–28.
Leander public works officials on May 15 briefed the City Council on drought conditions affecting the Highland Lakes that supply regional water, saying inflows remain low and contingency plans — including emergency barges — may be needed if lake levels fall further.
Kelly Crowder, assistant director of utilities, presented updated inflow data and the city's contingency timeline, noting that combined storage in Lakes Travis and Buchanan stood at about 942,000 acre-feet at the time of the presentation. "If we keep following the same trend, LCRA is predicting the lake level in October to be somewhere in the range of 6 23," Crowder said, describing model projections that would require staging emergency measures.
Why it matters: Leander and other Central Texas utilities draw…
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