Around Texas: LCRA breaks ground on $250 million reservoir

Lower Colorado River Authority officials have begun construction of a new $250 million reservoir in rural Wharton County that should benefit all the municipalities and businesses north and east of San Antonio that rely on water from the lower Colorado River and lakes.

The 1,100-acre reservoir will be built in Lane City, Texas — more than 220 river miles downstream from the Highland Lakes in the Texas Hill Country. Once construction is completed, the reservoir should be able to hold about 40,000-acre feet of water. This is more water than the lakes in Marble Falls, Austin and Lady Bird combined.

LCRA officials say that because the reservoir could be refilled multiple times per year, it could potentially store up to 90,000 acre feet of water. An acre foot is the amount of water needed to cover an acre of land, or 325,851 gallons. The reservoir is needed, officials said, because of the prolonged drought that is affecting most of the state.

The Texas Water Development Board is providing the financing for the project. Construction crews will ship in 70,000 tons of cement, 19,000 cubic yards of concrete, 485,000 tons of gravel and sand and use 3 million gallons of fuel to complete the project. The reservoir should begin operating in 2017.

Source: San Antonio Business Journal