Lake Buchanan

Following a water regimen which involves flooding, rice farmers on the Gulf Coat of Texas will harvest a crop using heavy equipment such as the one pictured here in 2013. Contributed/Texas Farm Bureau

LCRA considers charging downstream customers higher rate

Friday, January 7, 2022

A local watchdog group and the Lower Colorado River Authority may be seeing eye-to-eye in the entity’s latest proposal to consider hiking the price of water paid by agriculture customers downstream but by how much remains in contention.

Pricing and water releases are connected to LCRA dam operations such as Buchanan Dam, pictured here during times of drought in 2013. Contributed/LCRA

Watchdog decries LCRA’s water management plan

Lew K. Cohn Managing Editor The Highlander

Friday, June 25, 2021

The president of the Central Texas Water Coalition called the Lower Colorado River Authority an “unregulated monopoly” during Tuesday’s regular Burnet County Commissioners Court meeting as she questioned the fairness of the agency’s water pricing and how it manages water usage.

Samples of algae from lakes LBJ, Buchanan, Marble Falls, Travis and Inks showed the presence of cyanotoxins that are dangeous to animals and people. Contributed

Tests show algae producing toxins in Highland Lakes

Special To The Highlander

Friday, March 26, 2021

Highland Lakes residents are being strongly urged not to let their dogs play near or ingest algae in any of the lakes controlled by the Lower Colorado River Authority. Test results received back Tuesday, March 23, from samples of blue-green algae taken on March 16-17 from five Highland Lakes — Buchanan, Inks, LBJ, Marble Falls and Travis — detected the presence of cyanotoxins in the samples from Inks Lake, Lake Marble Falls and Lake Travis.

Surface water became in short supply in area below Buchanan Dam during drought times in 2012. File photo

It’s time to pay attention to the water we cannot see

Guest Column Vanessa Puig-williams United States

Friday, February 12, 2021

Texas’ rivers are iconic. But the groundwater that sustains them is invisible.

Zebra mussels have been found to be reproducing at Lake Buchanan during recent Texas Parks and Wildlife Department sampling efforts. Contributed/TPWD

Lake Buchanan designated as ‘infested’ with zebra mussels

From Texas Parks And Wildlife Department

Friday, December 18, 2020

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has designated Lake Buchanan, located west of Burnet and north of Inks Lake in the Colorado River Basin, as “infested” with invasive zebra mussels. Infested status signifies that there is an established, reproducing population of zebra mussels in the lake.

Kingsland-based realtor Katie Johnson – seen here at a $1.7 million property on Lake LBJ in Kingsland – said COVID-19 has spurred a seller’s market. Connie Swinney/The Highlander

Virus kindles real estate market

Connie Swinney Staff Writer The Highlander

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

The upper Highland Lakes is undergoing a real estate revival, and experts say the coronavirus may be to blame. “The market is as hot as it has ever been.