Hays WCID 1

Update: Likelihood of entering Stage 2 in March

Feb 18, 2025

Belterra Residents and Customers:

We have received the following information from the LCRA and are sharing it with the community to provide notice of likely changes to begin in March. We will announce formal changes to drought stages promptly after declared by the LCRA or WTCPUA.

Feb. 6, 2025

Good morning,

We have an update for you on our lake conditions and the increasing likelihood we will enter Stage 2 drought conditions in March.

Even though parts of the basin received some rain last month, most of the rain soaked in and very little flowed into lakes Buchanan and Travis. As inflows continue to be below average, there is a strong possibility LCRA will enter Stage 2 of its Drought Contingency Plan for Firm Water Customers in March. The move from DCP Stage 1 to Stage 2 would require you to take action, including limiting landscape watering to no more than once a week.

Criteria for moving to Stage 2 in March: LCRA would move to Stage 2 of its Drought Contingency Plan if on March 1 combined storage is below 1.1 million acre-feet and the December-January-February inflows to the Highland Lakes total less than the 25th percentile of historic inflows, or 62,690 acre-feet.

Current conditions as of Feb. 6:

  • Combined storage is about 1.023 million acre-feet.
  • Inflows to the Highland Lakes in December were 8,711 acre-feet and 9,617 acre-feet in January.
    • Under the inflows test, we would need more than 44,000 acre-feet of inflows in February to avoid moving to Stage 2.

Action required under Stage 2: Stage 2 requires you and other firm customers to implement additional mandatory drought measures in your individual DCPs, with a target demand reduction goal of 20%. Stage 2 allows no more than once-per-week watering.

We encourage you to begin planning for an increase in your drought response in March and will provide you another update later this month.

If you have any questions, please contact us at firmwater@lcra.org.

Sincerely,

Monica Masters Vice President of Water Resources, LCRA