Customers meet to discuss water supply plan
Lower Colorado River Authority water customers met in El Campo on Tuesday to discuss the Water Supply Resource Plan. The plan is a 90-year roadmap for how it will meet water needs for cities, businesses and industries to the year 2100.
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Jerry Boettcher attended the meeting because he was concerned.
A land landlord and employee at Hlavinka Equipment Co., water is an important part of his business.
He and other agriculture businesses that sale equipment for farmers, are concerned for future water for irrigation.
Our future is tied in with the future of the farmers, he said.
Boettcher, along with other LCRA customers, met with the Lower Colorado River Authority at the EL Campo Civic Center on Tuesday to discuss the Water Supply Resource Plan. The plan is a 90-year roadmap for how the agency will meet water needs for cities, businesses and industries to the year 2100.
“We want to hear from the customers and people out in the basin what they think is important,” said James Kowin, supervisor for water resources planning river management.
The concern for the board members was to know what the demand of water would look like in 90 years and where the demands will be and then what steps we would need to take, he said.
The challenge is to look into the future and seeing who is going to grow where in our basin, he said.
Current water supplies are expected to provide adequate water for cities and industries for the next 50 years or more, he said.
The water draft was created after several public meetings that began in 2008.
During Tuesday’s public meeting, customers were asked to get into small groups and answer five questions that were provided by LCRA. Water facilitators were in each table to help answer questions.
The facilitators were LCRA employees who made sure each table answered each question; establish priorities and vote on one of the strategies in the draft.
The questions asked concerned challenges affecting the assurance of high quality, affordable and available water for future generations, as well as the future cost of water for future generations.
The results from each public meeting will be compiled and results will be given to the water board in the spring.
“It is important for us to come together and start planning for the water needs of our future,” Kowin said.
The plan lists three strategies:
· Strategy I: Using LCRA’s existing supplies to meet future demands.
· Strategy II: Using existing supplies and conserving for the future.
· Strategy III: Using existing supplies, conserving and building for the future.
Costs for such options range from $3 million to $1.6 billion, according to the water draft.
The plan also includes technical analysis that include how much water will be available for the environment, what the impact of water levels will be and the potential water levels and reliability for agriculture.
“This plan we believe will help us plan for the future,” Kowis said. “Trying to guess what is going to happen 90 years from now is a shot in the dark, but it is a good educated guess.”
The LCRA will hold other public meetings in Burnet and in Austin. The survey can be taken until March 19 online at www.lcra.org/watersupply.
LCRA is a conservation and reclamation district that provides electricity and water and wastewater services, manages public lands and water supplies, protects natural resources, and supports economic and community development.