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LCRA staff backs 2032 water‑management amendment that shrinks interruptible agricultural allocations, keeps modeled floor near 640,000 acre‑feet
Summary
Staff recommended a 2032 amendment to LCRA's Water Management Plan that reduces interruptible agricultural allocations and adjusts curtailment triggers while modeling a minimum combined storage of about 640,000 acre‑feet; the full board is scheduled to consider the amendment later the same day and LCRA expects to file with TCEQ in early March.
LCRA staff recommended a 2032 amendment to the Lower Colorado River Authority's Water Management Plan on Feb. 18, proposing lower allocations of interruptible stored water for agriculture and revised drought triggers while modeling a minimum combined storage of roughly 640,000 acre‑feet for Lakes Travis and Buchanan.
"The recommendation meets the TCEQ framework," Monica Masters, LCRA staff, told the Water Operations Committee. She said the revision uses TCEQ‑approved hydrology through 2023 and incorporates updated firm demand projections to 2032. Under the recommended approach, the maximum interruptible stored water for the first crop would be 125,000 acre‑feet, down from 178,000; other trigger levels for less severe and extraordinary droughts are raised to reduce risk to firm customers.
The amendment retains the TCEQ framework of three supply conditions (normal, less severe drought and extraordinary drought) and preserves the requirement that modeled minimum combined storage not fall below the statutory floor associated with the adjudication order and TCEQ guidance. Staff said modeling shows the amended plan holds a minimum modeled combined storage of about 640,000 acre‑feet under the adopted 2032 demand projections.
The proposed changes also affect environmental releases: staff said in‑stream obligations for Columbus and Wharton would be reduced when combined storage drops below specified thresholds and Matagorda Bay monthly caps and storable inflow percentages would be reduced at low storage levels. Staff reported modeled environmental attainment remains high in most criteria (for example, subsistence attainment at about 99% and Matagorda Bay monthly threshold attainment at about 96%).
Public commenters and participants urged caution. "When CTWC applies this analysis, the firm yield of the Highland Lakes falls to 347,000 acre‑feet," David Lindsey of the Central Texas Water Coalition told the committee, calling the amendment "not sufficiently protective." LCRA staff responded that the amendment uses TCEQ‑approved hydrology through 2023, which includes the drought of record, and that the modeling and participant process informed the recommended tradeoffs.
The committee did not take a final vote on the amendment at this meeting; staff told the board it will seek full board approval that afternoon and expects to submit the amendment application to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in early March. The only recorded formal action during the committee meeting was approval of the January committee minutes.
If approved by the LCRA board and TCEQ, the amendment will change the frequency and amounts of interruptible supplies available to agricultural customers and adjust environmental release policies under certain low‑storage conditions. LCRA staff reiterated the amendment is the product of a multi‑participant process and said additional triggers for reopening the plan could be included if conditions worsen.
