Where’s Our Water? A CBS Austin Town Hall

LCRA is beginning the approval process for an updated Water Management Plan that will govern how our water is managed for at least the next 5–7 years. Once finalized and approved, this plan will be very difficult to reopen or revise, even if drought conditions worsen or key assumptions prove wrong. Because water released from our lakes cannot be recovered, the decisions being made now carry long-term risk to our drinking water, communities, and local economy.

Recent reporting confirms what we are seeing firsthand—Central Texas remains in drought conditions, and water systems are under continued stress despite the recent rainfall. Consider this: even with a notably wet April, Lake Buchanan has risen nearly a foot over the past 30 days, while Lake Travis has increased by only about 0.15 feet. Given current watershed conditions, ongoing demand, and seasonal agricultural use, we are fortunate to be holding steady, but there are no clear signs of meaningful recovery.