Last week, the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) held two so-called public information sessions regarding recently-proposed water rate increases which I adamantly oppose. If adopted, the increases would make the Colorado River basin’s rates, far and away, the most expensive of any other major basin in the state. Customers in the upper basin would see rates increase from $151 per acre-foot to $175.46 per acre-foot in 2015 with annual increases of 3% from 2016 through 2019.
It’s my fear that these meetings will simply amount to window dressing and that the management and leadership at the LCRA has already made their decision. Rather than serving as a forum for debate, the public was largely on the sidelines, as LCRA staff simply read and answered questions from the audience. This isn’t surprising, considering the LCRA has a history of telling the public what they want them to hear.
As the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources, I have been entrusted with the oversight of all water-related issues in the state of Texas. However, the LCRA operates largely as they wish, as they are considered a quasi-governmental entity. For years, I have attempted to pull back the veil at the LCRA to ensure they’re acting in the best interests of those they serve, but have been stone-walled by an agency uninterested in transparency.
If the LCRA wishes to operate as though they’re a private company, it only makes sense for them to act in a professional, streamlined manner. Rather, we see the type of bloat and bureaucracy that is usually associated with mismanaged federal agencies.In the 1930’s and 1940’s, when the reservoir system in the Highland Lakes was constructed, Texas was an agrarian society. While agriculture is still a vital part of Texas’ economy, the central Texas region has seen massive growth in population and industry. More than one million Texans rely on Lake Buchanan and Lake Travis as their primary source of drinking water.
When the District Court of Bell County ordered the LCRA’s adjudicated permit in 1989, they recognized Texas’ changing demographic and the importance of providing a reliable source of water for upper basin customers. Language in the permit states “the supply of stored water pursuant to non-firm, interruptible commitments should be interrupted or curtailed to the extent necessary to allow LCRA to satisfy all existing and projected demands for stored water pursuant to all-firm, uninterruptible commitments.” Clearly, the Court recognized the LCRA’s obligation not to interrupt the water flow of firm customers like the municipalities in and around the Highland Lakes.
However, the LCRA has thumbed their nose at the basic premise laid out in that court-adjudicated permit. For instance, despite my strong opposition in 2011, 464,000 acre-feet of water was released from the Highland Lakes to downstream farmers and sold at a rate of $6.50 per acre-foot, even though the LCRA recognized that 2011 was the hottest and driest year on record. Upper basin customers, though, paid $151 per acre-foot for the same water.
As a result of that decision, Lake Buchanan and Lake Travis are currently at one-third of their capacity, rather than roughly 55% had that water not been released. That decision proved costly not only for central Texas, but for the LCRA’s bottom line. The sale of water to irrigation customers at drastically low rates is not economically viable and has caused the financial difficulties the LCRA currently finds themselves in.
The reason the LCRA is proposing this new rate structure is cut-and-dried; the board hasn’t properly managed the basin. The LCRA has sophisticated modeling to predict the inflow expected in the Colorado River basin and should have been able to see the near-historic low lake levels coming a mile away. Sadly, as we near a drought worse than the drought of record, there’s little the homes and businesses in the Highland Lakes can do but hope for rain.
It’s time for the LCRA to manage their operations responsibly. Basic accounting principles, like ensuring expenses aren’t greater than revenue, would go a long way toward guaranteeing that unnecessary rate increases like those recently proposed are a thing of the past. Perhaps the LCRA should look in the mirror to address rising costs. Only to the LCRA would it make sense to offer bonuses and raises to upper-level management while trying to increase their customers’ rates.
I fully understand the importance of the Texas agricultural industry, but I’m requesting that the LCRA uphold their obligations as laid out in their court-adjudicated permit. In the name of transparency and accountability, the LCRA needs to listen intently to the voices of the upper basin’s firm, uninterruptible customers. Rather than trying to shoulder the burden of bad business decisions on the backs of my constituents, the LCRA should focus their attention on implementing a responsible, forward-thinking Water Management Plan at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Senator Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay) represents Senate District 24, comprised of the following counties: Bandera, Bell, Blanco, Brown, Burnet, Callahan, Comanche, Coryell, Gillespie, Hamilton, Kerr, Lampasas, Llano, Mills, San Saba, Taylor (part) and Travis (part).
