AUSTIN, Texas — At its peak, the combined storage of Austin water's supply coming from Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan is over 2 million acre-feet.
In summer 2022, levels dropped much lower than normal.
"Last June, they fell below 1.4 million acre-feet and that triggered us into Stage 1,” said Shay Ralls Roalson, the director of Austin Water.
With even more record-breaking temperatures this year, the combined storage of Lake Travis and Buchanan has fallen below 900,000 acre-feet, prompting the City of Austin to institute Stage 2 of the drought contingency plan.
The last time Austin found itself under Stage 2 restrictions was in 2012, when there were almost no inflows coming from the lakes. The brutal heat of the past two summers have caused Highland Lake inflow levels to become even more severe than they were 10 years ago.
"The inflows were quite low, but our inflows that we experienced last year and are on track to experience this year, are lower than those drought conditions,” Roalson said.
Last year saw the lowest level of Highland Lake inflows on record since the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) began tracking it back in 1942.
Austin Water said it will take far more just one day of rain to make any kind of difference.
"We need the rain to fall regularly for a long time and in the right places," Roalson said.
Since lake levels are largely dependent on the climate and weather conditions, Austin Water has been working on additional water conservation plans to try and stabilize them. The Water Forward plan was approved by the City in 2018 and includes reclaimed water systems and strategies to reuse water at large development projects.
In addition to its strategies, Austin Water said Austinites are going to have to do their part by conserving more water at home.
"It's really a community effort," Roalson said. "All of us need to do our part to conserve water, and if we do, we can have a significant impact on our water use and we can bring that down and help bridge this time of uncertainty in our water supply."