HLG Directors
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Rusty Allen - Lago Vista
Harold Butler - Lakeway
David Deeds - Jonestown
John Graham - Tow
Jay Harris - Buch. Dam
Dewey Hollingsworth -
Spicewood
Will Mitchell - Austin
Barker Keith - Hills
Cole Rowland - Lakeway
Leon Seidl - Kingsland
David Steed - Austin
Pat Wendland - L'way | |
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| Bob Vann leaves HLG Board |
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Highland Lakes Group was organized in September, 1993, at a meeting of three individuals; Rusty Allen of Lago Vista, Cole Rowland of Lakeway, and Bob Vann, then from Austin. The purpose was to find a way to keep lake residents informed about the efforts of San Antonio to make the Highland Lakes part of the San Antonio water system. Bob has since had a distinguished career as Travis County Constable, Precinct 2.
While HLG was concerned with preserving water volume in the lakes, Bob Vann was also the long-time president of Protect Lake Travis Association (PLTA), a group formed in the 1980's to protect the water quality of the lakes from efforts by cities and developments to discharge treated wastewater into the Highland Lakes.
Bob has resigned from both HLG and PLTA. We want to thank Bob for his dedicated service as a founding director of Highland Lakes Group and to wish him well in his retirement activities.
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Volume 16-1 February, 2009 |
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The Last Straw? |
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On June 28, 2000, Dr. Quentin Martin, then head of Water Resources Planning for the Lower Colorado River Authority, spoke to the other members of the Lower Colorado Regional Water Planning Group (LCRWPG) about a plan he had devised for sharing water from the lower Colorado River with the San Antonio Water System (SAWS). Beginning in 1993, SAWS began making plans for building a pipeline to Lake Travis in order to make the Highland Lakes part of the water supply for San Antonio. There was strong opposition to this idea from LCRA, LCRWPG, and from the residents, cities, organizations and businesses around the Highland Lakes.
The difference between Dr. Martin's plan and the hated "San Antone Hose" was that his proposal produced new water from new off-channel reservoirs, and the new water was shared 60% with the Colorado basin and 40% with SAWS, but SAWS paid 100% of the cost. Quentin Martin was noted for finding "win-win" solutions to adversarial situations, and the LCRA-SAWS "water-sharing plan" was a prime example of this talent. Craig Pedersen, then head of the Texas Water Development Board, said that Dr. Martin's idea for sharing water with San Antonio was "... the most important thing that has come out of the (statewide) regional water planning process, perhaps in its entirety."
A potential problem with the water-sharing plan was that by removing water from the lower Colorado River during rain events, the salinity of Matagorda Bay would be changed, and the impact of this on the local marine wildlife was not fully understood. As a result, a seven-year study period was agreed upon, so that the environmental impact of the plan might be thoroughly studied. A contract was signed between LCRA and SAWS, and the study phase of the project got underway.
The project would produce a new supply of water for San Antonio, a city that was (and is) under heavy pressure to find new water sources after federal lawsuits sharply curtailed its customary supply of water from the Edwards Aquifer. San Antonio was always blessed with an abundant supply of cheap groundwater, but with its groundwater supply now regulated, new surface water options were sought, but not easily found. New reservoir proposals produced very strong opposition, and the technology and pumping distance from the Gulf Coast made sea water desalination very costly.
(To read the rest of this article, click here.) |
| LCRA Studies Underway |
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Three studies by LCRA staff are currently underway and are expected to have results to be made public later in the spring.
1) CREMS project (Colorado River Environmental Models Project)
Using computer modeling, the impact of various changes in inputs to the Highland Lakes, including the possible discharge of treated wastewater effluent, is being studied by the LCRA Water Resource Protection group.
2) Boating Study
Purpose is to estimate and examine peak use levels for Lake Travis, and to measure trends relative to earlier boating studies. Questionnaires were mailed to lakefront residents, marinas and boat launch users in order to determine use patterns, peak densities, and to find the nature and magnitude of conflicts.
3) Long-term Water Supply Resource Study
Water users in the Colorado River basin are using only a fraction of the water supply currently available, but long-term commitments are approaching the limit of LCRA's resources. This study looks at long-term demand projections, as well as additional water sources for the basin.
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| Clean Boating Act |
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Former President George W. Bush signed into law the Clean Boating Act of 2008 on July 29, 2008, after a two-year battle to reinstate a longstanding, common-sense exemption under the Clean Water Act that allows recreational boaters and anglers to operate vessels on America's waterways without special federal and state permits. According to Boaters Guide, 2009, if Congress had not acted when it did, boaters would have been subjected to a multitude of burdensome and costly new rules and regulations, potential fines and citizen lawsuits.
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