The LCRA Mission Statement (Part I):
The mission of the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) is to provide reliable, low-cost utility and public services in partnership with our customers and communities…
The LCRA Mission Statement (Part II):
…and to use our leadership role and environmental authority to ensure the protection and constructive use of the area’s natural resources.
When LCRA officials answer the question, “Why are you putting a pipeline into Hays County?” they cite Part I of their mission statement.
When Hays County residents opposed to the pipeline argue why LCRA shouldn’t bring surface water to the county, they cite Part II.
The dual nature of LCRA’s mandate to provide water and electricity while protecting the environment is causing some conflict both in the authority and with its potential customers. The controversy mainly revolves around the question, “Who is going to get water from the new pipeline?”
And after in-depth discussions with LCRA officials, the answer is, “Whoever wants it, as long as it’s affordable and in the authority’s area of allowed service.”
The pipeline is intended for existing homes in the Dripping Springs area, they say, pointing out that that’s where the pipeline is headed directly and that numerous residents and city officials have requested the water. The authority has entered into negotiations with the Dripping Springs Water Supply Company, which would retail the water directly to customers.
While the pipeline is intended to cover a “swath” of about five to seven miles in width, LCRA officials agree that once you put the proposed pipeline in, it obviously becomes much easier to stretch future pipeline extensions even deeper into Hays County. The LCRA is limited as to how far it can go to provide water, since it can only serve customers in its Colorado River Watershed. The Guadalupe-Blanco Rivers Watershed begins just south of central Hays County, near Kyle.
LCRA’s pipeline feasibility study notes that population increases in northern Hays County justify the need for supplying surface water. Interestingly, the study also says that the accommodating factor for new development is road expansion and improvements to Hwy. 290 and MoPac that “make northern Hays and southwest Travis County even more attractive to residential development.”
Pipeline critics like the Hays County Water Planning Partnership point at both new roads and surface water as the culprits to large-scale development.
So is the LCRA fulfilling its mandate by providing service to customers in dire need of water, or is it failing to live up to its mandate to protect natural resources and the environment?
This article appears in October 15 • 1999.