Despite Drought, Colorado River (TX) Expected To Support 1 Million In Austin By 2025
As with nearly every beloved Texas river, the 600-mile Colorado River — which flows from West Texas to the Gulf Coast — is under serious threat. Drought and surging population growth have taken their toll on the water’s flow and its wildlife and, by extension, the farmers and fishermen who rely on it.
But there is one thing about the Colorado — not to be confused with the river of the same name that flows through the Grand Canyon — that makes it unique. “Here’s the river that we decided to put the capital on,” said Kevin Anderson, who runs the Center for Environmental Research at the Austin Water Utility. “Austin must depend on its river for the water, and so it must respond to what the river is telling us.”
And with the dry conditions persisting, the booming city and seat of Texas’ Legislature is now facing a tug-of-war for water with agricultural, fishing and tourism interests farther downstream. While the city’s supply has so far remained intact, it is not guaranteed to stay that way.
Austin, now a city of more than 800,000 people, is projected to pass 1 million by 2025. It is almost entirely reliant on the Colorado River and its system of dammed reservoirs for water, managed by the Lower Colorado River Authority. But the two reservoirs that serve Austin and surrounding communities, Lakes Buchanan and Travis, currently have only about a third of the 655 billion gallons of water they can hold.
EDIT
http://www.texastribune.org/2013/11/01/river-trouble-question-who-has-sacrifice/
