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Lower Colorado River Authority Self-Evaluation Report

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Lower Colorado River Authority Self-Evaluation Report - Self-Evaluation Report INTRODUCTION The Lower Colorado River Authority is pleased to submit our Self-Evaluation Report to the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission. The Texas Legislature created LCRA in 1934 as a conservation and reclamation district pursuant to Article XVI, Section 59 of the Texas Constitution. LCRA’s enabling legislation is codified in the Special District Local Laws Code, Title 6, Subtitle G, Chapter 8503. The statute charges LCRA with multiple responsibilities including: “… the control, storing, preservation, and distribution of the waters of the Colorado River and its tributaries within the boundaries of the authority for irrigation, generation of electric energy and power, and other useful purposes; the reclamation and irrigation of arid, semiarid, and other lands needing irrigation; the development of parks on lands owned or acquired by the authority; and the conservation and development of the forests, water, and electric power in this state.” We have a proud record of carrying out our legislatively prescribed responsibilities since we opened our doors for business in 1935. As a public utility doing a public good, LCRA supports a dynamic Texas by providing water, producing and transmitting power, and delivering community services. The Highland Lakes and the dams that create them are vital to a region prone to both droughts and floods. The electric power we provide is essential for our growing state. LCRA and our affiliated corporations own or have output rights to enough wholesale power to serve the needs of about a million Texans, and LCRA Transmission Services Corporation provides electric transmission service throughout much of the state. Our community services also make real differences in the lives of the Texans we serve. Along with our network of more than 40 parks, LCRA provides economic development assistance to communities through our Community Development Partnership Program. LCRA is committed to fulfilling our mission: To enhance the quality of life of the Texans we serve through water stewardship, energy and community service. During the 2015 regular session, the Legislature passed legislation that provided that all river authorities would be reviewed by the Sunset Advisory Commission without the possibility of abolishment. The legislation amended LCRA’s enabling legislation and limited the scope of the LCRA review as follows: “The review shall not include the management of the generation or transmission of electricity under the wholesale electricity operation of the authority and the authority’s affiliated nonprofit corporations.” LCRA’s Self-Evaluation Report is, therefore, primarily focused on the organization’s water operations.(1) (1) “… a Sunset review will give citizens the ability to publicly discuss the governance and efficiency of how their water is managed …” Senator Brian Birdwell, author of SB 523, press release, April 9, 2015 “My intent all along has been that we sunset the river authorities talking about the water, because of the drought and water implementation … simply the water end of all of the water authorities.” Representative Jim Keffer, House sponsor of SB 523, upon laying the bill out on the floor of the House, May 15, 2015 Sunset Advisory Commission 2 September 2017 Self-Evaluation Report After years of devastating floods and ferocious drought, the Legislature in 1934 called upon LCRA to build a series of dams to corral the unruly lower Colorado River. LCRA went to work by building six dams along the river to help protect the state’s capital city and other communities in the basin. LCRA continues to be at the forefront in managing floods and protecting the lives and property of the people within the basin. As a result of constructing the dams, LCRA created six water reservoirs that have become known as the Highland Lakes. Two of the reservoirs – Lake Buchanan and Lake Travis – were designed as water supply reservoirs, while the remaining four are generally referred to as pass-through reservoirs. As they have for decades, lakes Buchanan and Travis capture water when rains are plentiful to use for our region’s water needs, including times when the region turns to drought. LCRA oversees and protects the water supply for more than a million people, and for businesses, industry, agriculture and the environment. We also monitor water quality and work to preserve and increase water supplies. Since 1989, our management of lakes Travis and Buchanan has been governed by a Water Management Plan (attached to this report as an integral component of our operations) approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. During drought, the plan requires the curtailment or cutback of interruptible stored water from the Highland Lakes, which may be curtailed during times of drought and is primarily used for downstream agriculture, to ensure that firm water, which is available even during a severe drought, will be available for the basic needs of cities, businesses and industries throughout the basin. The plan also requires LCRA to provide water from the lakes to help meet the environmental needs of the lower Colorado River and Matagorda Bay. During the most recent severe drought (from about 2008 to early 2016) the tension between the competing water management philosophies of upstream interests (those above Austin) and downstream interests (those below Austin) became acute, particularly after the single most severe drought year on record in 2011, as no interruptible water was released downstream from the Highland Lakes to the Gulf Coast, Lakeside and Pierce Ranch irrigation operations for the four consecutive years that followed (2012-2015). The current Water Management Plan approved by the TCEQ in November 2015 is designed to equitably address this tension. Despite the significant improvements brought about by the 2015 Water Management Plan, some stakeholders continue to argue that LCRA’s use of water to serve downstream communities, agriculture, industry and the environment should be subordinated to keeping lakes Travis and Buchanan at higher, near-constant levels. Our governing statute and founding mission would indicate otherwise. Again, the two largest of the six Highland Lakes – Buchanan and Travis – are the water supply reservoirs for the entire lower river basin from San Saba County in the Hill County to Matagorda County on the coast. Because they were created to store water during wet seasons and provide water even during times of drought, their levels vary by design. Keeping these lakes at near-constant levels would significantly reduce the reliable amount of water these lakes could supply even to the communities along the lakes. The only way to maintain near-constant levels for these lakes in times of drought would be to severely restrict or eliminate downstream flows. September 2017 3 Sunset Advisory Commission Self-Evaluation Report We are proud of the mission and purpose that was established for LCRA by the Texas Legislature, and our employees are working hard to meet that mission and purpose every day. To that end, we are committed to full and open cooperation with the Sunset Advisory Commission in its evaluation centered on LCRA’s water operations. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to welcoming you to LCRA at your convenience. Sincerely, Phil Wilson LCRA General Manager Sunset Advisory Commission 4 September 2017 Self-Evaluation Report Please note: LCRA has made every effort to be fully responsive. If something was missed, please let us know, and we will transmit the requested information as soon as possible. We also encourage you to access LCRA’s website, which is a comprehensive source of information that can facilitate gaining an understanding of LCRA. Because LCRA is not a state agency and receives no state appropriations, a number of the original questions have been modified to more accurately reflect the financial or administrative nature of LCRA while still providing comparable data where appropriate. September 2017 5 Sunset Advisory Commission Self-Evaluation Report Table of Contents I. Agency Contact Information .................................................................................... 7 II. Key Functions and Performance ............................................................................. 7 III. History and Major Events ...................................................................................... 21 IV. Policymaking Structure.......................................................................................... 25 V. Funding ................................................................................................................. 38 VI. Organization .......................................................................................................... 39 VII. Guide to Agency Programs ................................................................................... 51 Managing Water Supply and Flood Operations of the Highland Lakes ................. 51 Highland Lakes Marina Ordinance and Safety Standards for Residential Docks .. 56 Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance .................................................................. 59 On-Site Sewage Facility Program ......................................................................... 62 VIII. Statutory Authority and Recent Legislation ........................................................... 64 IX. Major Issues .......................................................................................................... 65 X. Other Contacts .....................................................................................................
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