LCRA OKs watered down order

November 12, 2012, 9:00 pm by James Walker

Highland Lakes residents and business owners were figuratively left high and dry Wednesday when two Travis County members on the Lower Colorado River Authority board abandoned them and voted to approve an emergency drought order that likely will result in increased water released for use by downstream rice farmers next year.

The LCRA’s directors approved a watered-down emergency order by 10-4, but the key vote was earlier when an attempt by Burnet County director John Franklin to amend the trigger point for cutting off water to the rice farmers from 775,000 acre feet to 800,000 was defeated, 8-6.

The emergency order that passed Wednesday assures that the rice farmers will receive water from the lakes if the combined storage of Lakes Buchanan and Travis is above 775,000 acre feet on Jan. 1 or March 1.

For more of this story, see Friday's Highlander.