Colorado Coastal Plains Project - Texas - Draft Plan of Study

A chain of six reservoirs on the Colorado River, Texas, above Austin provides regulation of flows for benficial use. These reservoirs provide storage for flood control, municipal and industrial water supplies, hydro-electric power generation, irrigation, fish and wildlife conservation, and recreation. The rapidly increasing water requirements of the expanding Highland Lake developments, the city of Austin, and the anticipated additional electrical power generation and future municipal and industrial needs in the downstream reaches will soon exceed the capabilities of existing facilities. This increasing water requirement prompted the Lower Colorado River Authority, the responsible State of Texas agency, to petition Congress to appropriate funds for an investigation that would provide for sound management of the water resources of the "Coastal Plains" portion of the Colorado River Basin. The 93d Congress appropriated the necessary funds for the Bureau of Reclamation to initiate investigations in fiscal year 1975. Distribution of the Notice of Initiation of Investigation was made in January 1975. It is expected that the study will take 3 years to complete.