On April 30, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality approved an emergency order granting the Lower Colorado River Authority’s request to reduce the stream flow requirement from Bastrop to Eagle Lake from 500 cubic feet per second to 300. The requirement is in effect for six weeks between March and May 2014 to maintain a sufficient spawning habitat for the blue sucker fish.
The reduction will allow LCRA to maintain approximately 17,000 acre feet of water in Lakes Buchanan and Travis combined. It has also been determined that the reduction will maintain 86% of the blue sucker spawning habitat.