Droughts are a serious matter for Austin, Texas. The city watershed system includes the Colorado River and the Highland Lake chains with storage lakes Travis and Buchanan, where the water capacity today is at a dangerously low 37 percent.The drought began nearly five years ago. To its credit, however, this city of 840,000 has been highly proactive in water conservation and protection since the early 1990s with public education and outreach. This, combined with interdepartmental participation, has given the community some of the best educated “water consumers” in a region where every drop matters.The city’s water utility conducts more than
