LCRA BREAKS GROUND ON NEW WATER SUPPLY RESERVOIR

  

The Lower Colorado River Authority on Wednesday broke ground on the region’s first significant new water supply reservoir in decades.

The off-channel reservoir in Wharton County will reduce demands on the Highland Lakes and benefit everyone who depends on water from the lakes and lower Colorado River.

The Lane City Reservoir will be the first project that will allow LCRS to store a significant amounts of water near the Texas Gulf Coast, which is more than 2201 river 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 combined. The water could be used and the reservoir refilled multiple times per year, making it capable of adding up to 90,000 acre-feet of firm water to the region's supply.

The 1,100-acre Lane City Reservoir will be constructed 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.

Though the water will be used for customers and the environment near the site, the reservoir will benefit customers throughout the basin by serving needs otherwise met with water from the Highland Lakes.

The reservoir is expected to begin operating in 2017.