LCRA says Arbuckle reservoir will add supply but fill testing delays push in‑service timing to spring 2025

A staff member for the Lower Colorado River Authority told the board that the Arbuckle reservoir is LCRA’s largest current water project and could add up to 90,000 acre-feet per year to the region’s water supply, but drought conditions delayed required fill testing.

The staff member said ongoing drought prevented completion of refill testing by the end of 2024 and reported that, “as of January 20th, we had 32,600 acre feet in storage, which is about 76% full.” The staff member said Arbuckle is expected to be in service in late spring 2025, “subject to available flows and results of testing.”

The authority also outlined additional water investments: roughly $174,000,000 planned over the next five years for development of other water-supply projects, and a goal to increase water supplies for the upper part of the basin by about 60,000 acre-feet by 2040, based on analysis of customer needs through 2080. On infrastructure for the Highland Lakes, the staff member said LCRA has invested more than $187,000,000 in capital projects for dams and related hydroelectric infrastructure since fiscal year 2010, and plans an additional $96,000,000 in similar projects by fiscal year 2029 to bring total investments to more than $283,000,000.

These remarks were presented as program and schedule updates; no formal board vote or funding approval specific to Arbuckle was recorded in the meeting transcript.