The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 145, No. 36, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 2, 1998 Page: 3 of 66
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: The Bastrop Advertiser and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Bastrop Public Library.
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'■
Lower Colorado River Authority approves $466
million budget to meet the demands of growth
The-Lower Colorado River
Authority's 15-member Board of
Directon approved a $466
million budget on June 25 for
the 1999 fiscal year, beginning
July 1. The budget provides for
affordable wholesale electric
power services and flood con-
trol along the Colorado River
while supporting LCRA's grow-
ing water and wastewater utility
business.
Meeting the' demands of
growth is the overall , theme of
the budget, which includes $171
million in capital projects to
support growth in the Central
Texas region served by the
LCRA. The budget also funds
development of an integrated re-
source plan to determine how
the LCRA might acquire new
sources of electric power to
meet growing demands from its
44 wholesale electric customers.
Upgrading LCRA's electric
power plants and transmission
lines, which expect to meet a
four percent annual increase in
demand through 2003, are
among LCRA’s top priorities
and are budgeted at $34 million
in FY 1999.
On the water side, the LCRA
plans to spend $119 million for
capital projects, including $23
million to build and acquire
water and wastewater utility
systems in its service area and
$4 million to update and main-
tain hydroelectric equipment at
the six Highland Lakes dams on
the Colorado River/
The LCRA budgeted a $12
million in FY 1999 to modern-
ize and improve the dams, in-
cluding projects related to a 15-
year, $50 million dam modern-
ization plan. The budget in-
cludes $75 million to finance
the acquisition of water rights
from Garwood Irrigation Com-
pany.
The budget includes $10
million for continuing LCRA’s
economic and community de-
velopment services and provides
for Expanding LCRA's system
of paries. More than 20 park
projects are funded for 1999 in
addition to the completion of
McKinney Roughs Natural Sci-
ence Laboratory in Bastrop
County and Canyon of the Ea-
gles Park in Burnet County.
The LCRA is a conservation
and reclamation district that
generates electricity, manages
the waters of the Texas
Colorado River, operates parks
and assists communities in
economic development The
LCRA serves more than one
million Texans in 53 counties
through its 44 wholesale
customers and operates on
revenues from the sale of
electric ty, water and other
services. It cannot levy taxes
and receives no tax money. I
Poor
Fair
Nutrient and fecal bacteria levels are within ranges
established for a "good" rating. Dissolved oxygen
levels are slightly depressed as a result of warm
summer temperatures. Warmer water is not able to
hold as much oxygen as cooler water and therefore
summer is historically a stressful time for aquatic life,
including fish.
Brought to you by the Lower Colorado River A uthority
and the Colorado River Watch Network Monitors of
Bastrop High School
occur again.
Water quality was rated ex-
cellent in June in lakes Marble
Falls and Travis and the Col-
orado River below Austin. Re-
ceiving a rating of good were
the San Saba, Llano and Peder-
nales rivers; lakes Buchanan
and LBJ; and the river at Bas-
trop, Smithville, La - Grange,
Oolumbus, Wharton and Bay
City.
sued monthly by the LCRA to
characterize the general quality
of the river, tributaries and
Highland Lakes using ratings of
“excellent,” “good,” “fair” and
“poor.” The index is based on
six parameters, including dis-
solved oxygen, fecal coliform
bacteria, nitrogen, phosphorus,
temperature and total dissolved
solids.
For more information call
John Wedig, 1-800-776-5272,
Ext. 3307.
good shape in June, there were
some warning signs. Overall,
water quality ratings slipped
from excellent to good at 10 lo-
cations due to lower dissolved
dxygen levels. The reduced
oxygen levels were due to hot
weather. Cooler water can hold
more oxygen than warmer wa-
ter. Therefore, the summer, es-
pecially late summer, can be a
stressful time for aquatic life, >
including fish. Dissolved oxy-
gen levels remained high plenished. in the bottom layer. The water quality index is is-
enough to support a healthy fish The problem will remain until
population in June, but were\ cooler weather allows mixing to
considerably lower than in May.
Also, because of the summer
heat, lakes Buchanan and
Travis, the two deep Highland
Lakes, form a warmer layer on
top of a cooler layer. So the
bottom layer becomes devoid of
oxygen when organic materials
at the lower depths use up the
oxygen during the decay pro-
cess. Because the two layers
__t— At-• ________
Highland Lakes, Lower
Colorado River in good
shape for holidays
Bastrop Water Quality
June 1998
Good Excellent
The Highland Lakes and
Lower Colorado River are in
good shape as the Fourth of July
holiday approaches, according
to the monthly water quality in-
dex issued by the Lower Col-
orado River Authority.
Test results show that bacte-
ria levels are low and overall
water quality is rated good to
excellent at all 14 locations
tested along the Colorado river,
Highland Lakes and major trib-
utaries in June.
June is die third month in a
row that all 14 locatioifc re-
ceived a rating of good or ex-f
cellenL While die lack of rain-
fall had been bad for farmers
and lawns, the dry weather has
been a major reason for the high
water quality. Rainfall runoff is
a significant source of water
quality problems because the
runoff carries pollutants into the
While water quality was in don't'mix, the oxygen is not re-
Allen Kugler (left) of Smithville won the 18S7 Lincoln
Continental from Longhorn Ford In Its "Tie One on for
Father’s Day” giveaway on June 20. Brian Daly, operations
manager, presented the award.
LCRA reactivates study
to investigate illegal
diversions of water
Amid concerns about the ef-
fect of the current drought on
the region's water supplies, the
Lower Colorado River Author-
ity has reactivated a campaign
to investigate illegal diversions
of water from the Highland
Lakes, the Colorado River and
its tributaries.
The LCRA has informed the
Texas Natural Resource Con-
servation Commission
(TNRCC), local government of-
ficials and LCRA water cus-
tomers of its plans to begin the
investigation. It also has opened
a telephone hotline for citizens
to call to report illegal pumping
of water from the river and
lakes.
The hotline number is 1-800-
776-5272, Ext 2121. The focus
will be persons diverting water
* for commercial purposes in a
10-county area from San Saba
in the Hill country to Matagorda
on the Gulf Coast It will not
apply to individual domestic
users.
- The LCRA initiated a highly
successful program during a
drought in July 1996«to identify
significant illegal diversions,
such as pumping water from the
river for irrigation purposes.
Now the LCRA intends to make
it an ongoing program.
“Our goal is to account for
every drop of water that comes
into and leaves the river and
lakes,” said LCRA General
Manager Mark Rose. “This is
especially important during dry
times like we are currently ex-
periencing. We want to remind
everyone that illegal diversions
are in effect stealing water from
the people of Texas.”
The LCRA will use leak-de-
tection experts and other per-
sonnel to identify illegal diver-
sions. LCRA Rangers will ver-
ify the information, obtain
physical evidence and pinpdint
the location uf the diversion for
mapping purposes. The LCRA
also will depend heavily on citi-
zens calling the hotline.
Illegal diverters identified in
the campaign will have the op-
tion of getting a contract for
water from the LCRA or seek-
ing a permit from the TNRCC.
Failure to get a contract or per-
mit will result in the LCRA
turning violators over* the
TNRCC for possible legal ac-
tion.
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McAuley, Davis. The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 145, No. 36, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 2, 1998, newspaper, July 2, 1998; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1178321/m1/3/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 9, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Bastrop Public Library.