N RANCHING
atural Resources LCRA Breaks Ground on New Reservoir I
N THE MIDST OF A HISTORIC DROUGHT IN TEXAS, THE LOWER Colorado River Authority (LCRA) broke ground Dec. 10 on the region’s fi rst signifi cant new water
supply reservoir in decades. The off-channel reservoir in Wharton County will reduce demands on the High- land Lakes and benefi t everyone who depends on water from the lakes and lower Colorado River. The Lane City Reservoir is the fi rst project that will
allow LCRA to store signifi cant amounts of water near the Texas Gulf Coast, more than 220 riv- er miles downstream from the Highland Lakes in the Texas Hill Country. The reservoir will hold about
40,000 acre-feet of water — more water than is in lakes Marble Falls, Austin and Lady Bird com- bined. The water could be used and the reservoir refi lled mul- tiple times per year, making it capable of adding up to 90,000 acre-feet of firm water to the region’s supply. (An acre-foot of water is 325,851 gallons.) At the height of the project
construction, LCRA estimates more than 100 people will be employed at the site. About 60 to 70 percent of the project workers are expected to come from the Wharton County area. The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) is
LCRA General Manager Phil Wilson (left) and Board of Directors Chair Timothy Timmer- man (right) celebrate breaking ground on LCRA’s Lane City Reservoir in Wharton County.
providing $250 million in funding for the project. Bech Bruun, a member of the TWDB, joined Wilson and others at a brief groundbreaking ceremony at the new reservoir site. “The groundbreaking of the Lane City Reservoir
is a historic milestone in developing new sources of water for Texas,” Bruun said. “The additional supply will help ensure that water demands of the region are secured for decades to come. TWDB applauds LCRA for its commitment to the planning process and to preparing for future drought.” In 2012, the LCRA Board of Directors made a com-
mitment to add 100,000 acre-feet — more than 32 bil- lion gallons — per year to the region’s water supply
tscra.org
project in motion. This project is exactly the kind of innovating we need — not just to help us get through this drought, but to help us meet the future demands of a growing Texas.” The 1,100-acre Lane City Reservoir will be con-
structed off the main channel of the Colorado River, near Lane City. The location will allow LCRA to take advantage of the wetter climate in the lower basin, and capture runoff from rain and available water in the river downstream of Lake Travis. Although the water will be used for customers and
the environment near the site, the reservoir will ben- efi t customers throughout the basin by serving needs otherwise met with water from the Highland Lakes. The reservoir is expected to begin operating
in 2017. February 2015 The Cattleman 71
by 2017. The Lane City Reservoir is the biggest project to date to help meet that goal. LCRA Board Chairman Timothy Timmerman said,
“This reservoir will play an important role in helping protect and expand our water supply. This will be the fi rst signifi cant new water supply reservoir in the basin since the Highland Lakes were built in the 1930s and 40s, and I’m proud to be part of the Board that set this
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