Dear Friends,

As we look back on 2025, one thing is abundantly clear: this has been a pivotal year for water in Central Texas. From the 89th Texas Legislative Session to the LCRA Water Management Plan to our own scientific research, CTWC has been working every single day to protect the water supply that two million Central Texans depend on.

This newsletter provides a comprehensive overview of the major initiatives, challenges, and progress we’ve been working on throughout the year — and the efforts we’re preparing for in 2026.

Thank you for being part of this effort. We could not do this vital work without you.

2025: A Year of Action and Advocacy

Legislative Session: Advancing Water Security & Conservation

We began 2025 at the Capitol, where CTWC met with legislators and their staff, drafted bills to address issues raised by current water laws and policies, and communicated with other water organizations regarding the challenges of the session.

During the session, CTWC supported water-focused bills aimed at improving water security, sustainability, and Texans’ right to conserve through landscaping, rainwater harvesting, and efficiency. We also testified on key legislation that strengthened long-term planning and helped secure voter approval of Proposition 4, which allocates critically needed funding for water infrastructure and new supply projects across the state. But it’s only a start — much more work is needed to protect our region’s future.

Region K Water Planning: For the First Time, We Couldn’t Meet Future Demand

This year, Region K — the Lower Colorado Regional Water Planning Group — completed and submitted its Regional Water Plan to the Texas Water Development Board. Our Region’s Water Plan, along with the plans developed for the 15 other regional water planning areas, will eventually be incorporated into the 2027 State Water Plan.

CTWC representatives played an active role throughout the planning process, providing input on evaluations of declining inflows, identifying needed improvements in data and modeling, highlighting the importance of public education on the real-time status of our water supply, and emphasizing the need for stronger conservation measures. This work, along with CTWC’s ongoing research, will help lay the groundwork for the next planning cycle, which begins in January 2026.

And in a historic first, planners determined that certain areas in our region will not have enough water to meet future municipal demands using available strategies. This confirms what CTWC has warned about for years — our region cannot rely solely on current supplies or past assumptions. We must secure new water sources, protect the limited supplies we already have, and—most importantly—establish a protected water reserve capable of sustaining our communities through the extended periods of low inflows and droughts that are becoming more frequent and severe.

Water Management Plan: The Decisions Made Now Will Shape Our Future

2025 also marked the opening of the new LCRA/TCEQ Water Management Plan, the regulatory blueprint that determines how water is allocated, conserved, and released from the Highland Lakes. This plan is only updated every 5–7 years, and what happens over the next few months will impact the region’s water future.

Through CTWC’s technical research and analysis, we identified serious concerns about dramatically declining inflows — the water that naturally replenishes the Highland Lakes. Inflows are now only a fraction of historical averages, yet these lakes continue to be required to supply drinking water to an increasing population, maintain the health of the river and bay, and provide water for rice farming, turf operations, and waterfowl habitat in the lower basin.

The Current Proposal

The draft Water Management Plan introduces several important improvements:

• A 17% population growth factor to reflect expected 2032 demands
• A 30% reduction in future interruptible agricultural water allocations to some irrigation districts
• Higher drought triggers, including an earlier cutoff of agricultural releases when the lakes are just above 50% full

These are meaningful steps.

Where the Plan Still Falls Short

Despite improvements, the plan maintains the combined storage threshold at 600,000 acre-feet, which also serves as the trigger to declare a new drought-of-record and begin development of a new Water Management Plan. We believe this threshold is dangerously low.

At approximately 600,000 acre-feet:

• Municipal intakes in the upper reaches of the lakes begin to fail
• Communities start losing access to drinking water
• Businesses face restrictions and potential shutdowns

Waiting until this point to initiate a new Water Management Plan means it would not take effect in time to prevent widespread hardship — because by then, the water is already gone. Recovery would require not just rain, but significant flooding, which is increasingly infrequent.

The risk is simply too great for a region that relies on the Highland Lakes as its primary water source.

CTWC Strongly Believes:

The Combined Storage Threshold Must Be Higher.
A strong consensus among major firm water customers — including the Cities of Austin, Lakeway, and Lago Vista — recommended increasing the threshold to 750,000 acre-feet. When that was rejected, CTWC recommended a compromise of 675,000 acre-feet, which was also declined and is not included in LCRA’s staff recommendations.

Protective Triggers Must Be Added so a new plan is automatically initiated before communities begin running out of water.

Water Management Should Prioritize Preventing Any Community from Running Out of Water.
The people of our region deserve a system built around reliability and public safety, not one that waits until crisis levels before taking action.

The water in our lakes is finite. The demands are increasing. The risks are real, immediate, and growing — and the new Brushy Creek Regional pipeline from Lake Travis to support Williamson County, scheduled to start up in 2027, will put even more strain on our supply. We must all practice good conservation measures, and everyone receiving water from our river basin must abide by the same rules.

CTWC’s Commitment: Using the Best Available Science to Protect the Water Future of Central Texas

In 2025, CTWC:

• Conducted extensive technical analyses on inflows, drought severity, and firm yield
• Analyzed historical rainfall patterns and declining inflow trends — including extending our analysis back to the 1950s drought — to evaluate whether it is still an appropriate benchmark. This work illustrates how dramatically watershed conditions have shifted, and how hotter temperatures, drier soils, land-use changes, and more than 44,000 unregulated ponds collectively reduce the runoff that once fed Lakes Travis and Buchanan.
• Participated in technical meetings with LCRA staff, hydrologists, and major cities
• Met with community leaders and water providers whose drinking water supplies are most vulnerable
• Submitted detailed technical comments and recommendations at every stage of the Water Management Plan process
• Educated thousands of concerned citizens through presentations, community events, and media engagement

We do this to provide meaningful input on water management on behalf of the people who rely on the Highland Lakes for drinking water.

CTWC’s commitment is unwavering: we will continue advocating — with facts, data, collaboration, and determination — to protect the long-term water security of Central Texas.

Your Support Makes This Work Possible

As we enter 2026, your involvement is more important than ever.

We are facing:

• Weather forecasts indicating drier and warmer conditions in 2026
• Increased agricultural and environmental flow releases required under the current 2020 WMP
• Continued growth and additional industrial demands (including water-intensive data centers)
• Rapid expansion of unregulated private ponds in the watershed
• Declining natural inflows

We cannot do this work without you.

Your support allows CTWC to:

• Continue reviewing, evaluating, and commenting on LCRA’s draft 2032 Water Management Plan
• Continue reviewing, evaluating, and providing input on Region K’s water planning activities
• Conduct and share groundbreaking technical research
• Continue work with hydrologists and water attorneys
• Advocate for secure drinking water
• Educate elected officials, community leaders, and the public
• Stand up for responsible water policy

Together, we can — and must — protect the Highland Lakes and the people who depend on them.

If you are able, please consider supporting CTWC as we prepare for the critical year ahead. Every contribution strengthens our voice and fuels our mission — but financial support is only one part of what keeps this work alive.

We also urgently need volunteers and community outreach leaders across the region. Your time, your voice, and your willingness to share our message are essential to ensuring that more Texans understand what is at stake and how they can help protect our water future.

Thank You for Standing With Us

Thank you for caring about our lakes, our water, and our future.
Thank you for showing up, speaking up, and supporting CTWC’s work.
And thank you for believing — as we do — that a secure water future is possible when a community stands together.

As we close out 2025, we wish you and your family a joyful and restful holiday season. Your support keeps this work moving forward, and we are deeply grateful.

With gratitude,
Shannon Hamilton
Executive Director, CTWC

Dave Stauch
President, CTWC

2025 CTWC Board of Directors

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