MENUMENU
  • My Account
  • Pay My Bill
  • Forms
LMUD
Customer Service: (512) 261-6222 x110

Open House, March 27-31: Conversation Starters at 10am and 2pm daily →

MENUMENU
  • LMUD logo
  • Customers
    • My Account
    • Pay My Bill
    • Start/Stop/Change Service
    • Tap Fee Schedule
    • Rates
      • Billing Cycle
      • Winter Averaging
    • Irrigation Schedule
    • Forms
      • Report a Problem
      • Authorization for Automatic Payments
      • Cancel Automatic Drafting
      • Request Change of Billing Address
      • Request Termination of Service
      • Request for Variance from Drought Contingency Plan
      • Notification of Right of Confidentiality of Customer Information
      • Application and Service Contract for Water and/or Wastewater Services
      • Grinder Pump System Service and Maintenance Addendum
  • Service Providers
    • Guideline & Requirement Documentation
      • Standard Details
      • Wastewater Back-up Relieve Valve Installation Guide
      • Grease Interceptor Requirements
      • Plumbing Requirements for Residential Application
      • Plumbing Code
    • Permits & Inspections
      • Procedure For New Construction
      • Permits
      • Wastewater Back-up Relief Valve Installation Guide
      • Easement Release
      • Application for Drought Variance
      • Construction Documents
      • Plumbing Fee Schedule
    • Forms
      • Application For Plumbing Permit
      • Application for Easement Release
      • Backflow Prevention Assembly Test & Maintenance Report
      • Application and Service Contract for Water and/or Wastewater Services
      • Notice to Purchasers
    • Rates
  • Updates
    • Awards
    • Updates
      • ODWW Project
      • In The News
      • Land Sale
    • Water Conservation Tips
    • Meetings
      • Board Meetings
      • Committee Meetings
    • Water Quality Report
    • Events
      • Upcoming Events
      • Past Events
      • Event Coverage
  • About Us
    • Who We Are
    • Coverage Area
    • Meet Our Team
      • Board of Directors
      • Committees
      • Staff
    • About Your Water
      • Boil Water Notices
    • History
      • Election History
    • Services
      • Potable Water
      • Wastewater
      • Water Reuse
    • Orders/Plans/Permits
      • Rate Order
      • Water Conservation Plan
      • Drought Contingency Plan
    • Financial Documents
      • Audits
      • Balance Sheets and Income & Expenses
      • Budgets
      • Check Registers
    • Community Resources
    • FAQs
    • Transparency
      • Financial Transparency
    • Employment
      • Job Openings
      • Job Application
  • Contact Us
LMUD
  • My Account
  • Pay My Bill
  • Forms
  • Customers
    • My Account
    • Pay My Bill
    • Start/Stop/Change Service
    • Rates
    • Irrigation Schedule
    • Tap Fee Schedule
    • Forms
  • Service Providers
    • Rates
    • Guideline & Requirement Documentation
    • Permits & Inspections
    • Forms
  • Updates
    • Awards
    • Alerts
    • Updates
    • ODWW Project
    • Water Conservation Tips
    • Meetings
    • Water Quality Report
  • About Us
    • Who We Are
    • Meet Our Team
    • History
    • Services
    • About Your Water
    • Coverage Area
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Financial Documents
    • Financial Transparency
    • Community Resources
  • Contact Us
Pay My Bill
Manage My Account
Customer Service:
(512) 261-6222 x110

Open House, March 27-31: Conversation Starters at 10am and 2pm daily →

Updates

Drought Management is in Effect (and Has Been)

May 17, 2022

As published in the Lake Travis View, May 2022.

Many of you will remember living through the drought that started in 2011. Texas experienced the driest year on record as well as its second hottest, according to the National Weather Service, with only 14.8 inches of rain and Austin reporting over 90 days that climbed to or above 100 degrees. Nearly 90 percent of the state was in severe drought status by the U.S. Drought Monitor. But, if you live in Texas long enough (especially near a lake), you notice that we routinely go through periods of drought followed by rainy spells. Do you remember the historic flood of 2018? Lake Travis rose 24 feet in 24 hours, reaching about 140 percent full (704 feet), according to the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA). September 2018 ranked in the top three wettest months on record for Texas behind May 2015 and August 2017.

The current drought monitor shows nearly 84 percent of Texas has some level of drought with 32 percent in extreme drought conditions. Some forecasters predict the same conditions that existed from 2011 to 2014 could happen again if we don’t get more rain soon. For most of Texas, May and June are the wettest months, followed by September and October so only time will tell how bad it’s going to get. It may take just one intense flood-like rain event to refill our reservoirs.

…additional protective measures have been put in place for the Highland Lakes and Colorado River since the dangerously low lake levels we experienced in 2011.

But what about the increasing population – won’t the number of people who are dependent on our reservoirs drain it faster than a decade ago? It is true that our population is increasing. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Austin was named the second-fastest-growing major city in Texas, adding about 171,000 residents from 2010 to 2020. However, additional protective measures have been put in place for the Highland Lakes and Colorado River since the dangerously low lake levels we experienced in 2011.

As a water utility (municipality) that relies on the Highland Lakes as our sole source of raw water to provide potable (drinking) water to our entire customer base, we monitor lake levels very closely. We are just one of five types of water users subject to the constraints of the LCRA’s Water Management Plan, which is approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The other types of users include industrial, recreational/irrigation, agricultural, and environmental. In 2011, municipal water use from LCRA accounted for 246,601 acre-feet being pulled from the Highland Lakes and Colorado River. Agricultural use (such as the rice farmers) accounted for 529,580 acre-feet (one acre-foot of water is about 325,800 gallons)! In 2020, the LCRA launched its current Water Management Plan based on what was learned from the new drought of record. The Highland Lakes Firm Water Customer Cooperative, comprised of 10 local water utilities, spearheaded by our general manager, Earl Foster, was instrumental in helping make changes from the previous plan that support rights for firm water users and place limits on “interruptible” users downstream, such as the rice farmers. Looking at 2020 usage: municipalities pulled 251,970 acre-feet from the Highland Lakes and the Colorado River; agriculture pulled 247,573 acre-feet. Total water use in 2011 was 879,330 acre-feet versus 673,040 acre-feet in 2020; that’s almost a 24 percent decrease in use…despite population growth. The LCRA recently published their water use data for 2021 showing a total use of 570,026 acre-feet. That’s an additional 15 percent decrease from the previous year and a whopping 35 percent decrease from 2011. Something must be working!

 

Type of Water Use*  2011  2020 2021
Municipal (firm) 246,601 251,970 249,011
Industrial (firm) 60,272 50,343 113,594
Recreational & Irrigation (firm) 9,099 7,568 4,204
Agricultural (interruptible) 529,580 247,573 171,900
Environmental 33,433 115,586 31,317
Emergency Hydroelectric Release 345 – –
TOTAL WATER USE 879,330 acre-feet 673,040 acre-feet 570,026 acre-fee
*Water Use is from Highland Lakes and Colorado River.
Chart developed by LMUD using data from LCRA yearly water use summaries.
Calculations are in acre-feet (one acre-foot of water is about 325,800 gallons).

Agricultural use is steadily the top user of water from the Highland Lakes according to LCRA data although municipal use did surpass agricultural in 2021, but not by much (249,011 acre-feet for municipal versus 171,900 acre-feet for agricultural). What does this mean? The 2020 Water Management Plan is working. Cities, municipalities, and industries (firm water customers) can rely on water being available even during the worst droughts with projected water demands through 2025. Trigger dates are used to justify how much water can be sent downstream for agricultural users for their first and second growing seasons as well as to protect the health of the river and Matagorda Bay.

We like to remind water customers that we each need to do our part by using water wisely. Outdoor water use alone accounts for about 60 percent of residential usage. Most municipalities have one or two-day per week irrigation schedules in place for their customers year-round to curb this usage. Many municipalities also make use of recycled water systems for irrigation purposes. For customers with inground irrigation systems, don’t “set it and forget it;” the controller can automatically change your watering schedule if there is a power outage, or a sprinkler head or line can be broken at any time wasting hundreds to thousands of gallons of water per cycle.

Water is an (if not the most) important component of personal and environmental health and sanitation. Without it, where would we be? The threat of water scarcity is being discussed worldwide because although roughly the same amount of water that existed from the beginning of time still exists today, where it is in the water cycle and how humans interact with it determines the amount available for use. Do your part by preventing water pollution and using it wisely.

 

Written by Stephanie Threinen, public information liaison for the Lakeway Municipal Utility District (LMUD). Earl Foster is the general manager of LMUD.

 

Sources:
LCRA Highland Lake Levels Data:
https://www.lcra.org/water/highland-lakes-overview/
LCRA 2011 Water Use Summary:
https://www.lcra.org/download/water_use_summary_2011-pdf/?wpdmdl=16072&refresh=62712a02d1c9e1651583490
LCRA 2020 Water Use Summary:
https://www.lcra.org/download/2020-water-use-summary/?wpdmdl=24578&refresh=627138386bd471651587128
Current Texas Drought Monitor Data:
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?TX
Historical Texas Drought Monitor Data:
https://waterdatafortexas.org/drought/drought-monitor?period=2022-04-26&areaType=state&areaName=tx
LCRA’s 2020 Water Management Plan:
https://www.lcra.org/water/water-supply-planning/water-management-plan-for-lower-colorado-river-basin/

 

← Newer Post
Older Post →

Latest News

  • Open House, March 27-31: Conversation Starters at 10am and 2pm daily

  • Board of Directors: March 8, 2023

  • Regular, Early, and Late Connection Options

  • Board of Directors: February 8, 2023

  • Notice to Customers Regarding Extreme Weather Emergency

Updates

  • Awards
  • Updates
    • ODWW Project
    • In The News
    • Land Sale
  • Meetings
    • Board of Directors Meetings
    • Committee Meetings
  • Water Conservation Tips
  • Water Quality Report
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
    • Event Coverage

Lakeway Municipal Utility District

1097 Lohmans Crossing
Lakeway, TX 78734-4459

Monday thru Friday
8:00 am- noon and 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Closed Holidays (see complete list)

(512) 261-6222 x110
(512) 261-2800 (after hours emergency)
(512) 261-6681

CustomerService@lakewaymud.org

Customer Support

  • Contact Us
  • My Account
  • Start or Change Service
  • Report a Problem
  • Review Rates
  • Irrigation Schedule
  • Forms
  • Guideline & Requirement Documentation

Quality Matters

  • About Us
  • Services
  • Water Quality Report
  • Financial Transparency
  • Awards
Lakeway Municipal Utility District | Copyright © 2023 All Rights Reserved
Notice: You are leaving the LMUD website.

You are now being redirected to our payment portal where your information remains private and secure.


I understand
Return to LMUD