More Texas Water Woes, This Time at the Beach
Photo by LCRA
The extreme drought has lowered levels in Lake Travis, exposing formations not seen for some time.
It sounds strange to say it, but Spicewood Beach is running out of water.
The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) released an advisory today to communities in the Spicewood Beach Regional Water System in Burnet County asking customers “to immediately cut back on all nonessential water use.”
Despite being adjacent to the Lower Colorado River, the wells serving the communities in the Spicewood Beach water system “are quickly approaching their minimum operating levels,” the advisory states. “At this time, based on the accelerated rate of drop in the well level, it is estimated that the wells have approximately two to three weeks of supply remaining.”
The LCRA is currently trucking in water to a storage tank in order to keep water flowing, and is looking at drilling new wells or possibly making existing wells deeper.
Spicewood Beach would be the third community in Texas as of late that has come close to running out of water. Other towns have had to build new pipelines and truck in water.
More from the LCRA:
“The Spicewood Beach system serves about 500 meters in the communities of Spicewood Beach, Lakeside Beach, Lake Oaks, and Eagle Bluff in Burnet County. It also serves the Spicewood Elementary School in the Marble Falls Independent School District
If the water levels continue to fall, it is likely LCRA will declare Stage 4 (emergency) drought conditions in Spicewood Beach. Stage 4 bans all outdoor watering and stops the approval of applications for new or expanded water service.”
For more information on the situation in Spicewood Beach, call 877-718-4396.
Here’s a map of Spicewood Beach:
