The Lower Colorado River Authority recently approved its largest investment plan to date to help Texas keep pace with its continued growth, LCRA said on May 21.
On Wednesday, LCRA’s Board of Directors approved a $656 million operating budget and $1.8 billion in capital investments for FY 2027. The $1.8 billion in capital investments is funded primarily through LCRA’s own revenues and debt, consistent with the organization’s operations since 1934, which have relied on no state appropriations.
LCRA manages the lower Colorado River and six Highland Lakes, provides wholesale electricity to Central Texas cooperatives and small towns, and operates one of the state’s largest transmission networks.
The business plan projects that power demand across ERCOT will grow significantly through 2031. Water needs are rising alongside power demand.
"LCRA’s plan is built for where Texas is going," it noted.
LCRA provided the following details on what’s in the plan:
- Power: LCRA’s new Timmerman Power Plant in Caldwell County is helping meet the increasing need for reliable, dispatchable power in Texas. The plant’s first unit began providing power to the state’s grid in 2025, and a second unit came online last month. LCRA also continues to build and improve transmission facilities. LCRA Transmission Services Corporation expects to invest about $8.6 billion in transmission over the next five years as the state continues to grow.
- Water: LCRA added to the region’s water supply last year with the new Arbuckle Reservoir in Wharton County and is exploring building another reservoir in the lower basin to increase water supplies. LCRA’s Water business plans to invest $153 million over the next five years to develop new water supply projects and tens of millions in dam rehabilitation projects over the same period to help ensure the continued safe and effective operation of LCRA dams.
- Broadband: Over the next five years, LCRA is helping connect communities across Texas to critically needed broadband services by making strategic investments to upgrade and expand its fiber network and radio system. LCRA is working with the Kerrville Public Utility Board to build telecommunication infrastructure for a flood warning system in Kerr County, where construction has begun.
Texas added millions of residents this decade, LCRA said. "LCRA’s FY 2027 Business and Capital Plan is its operational answer to that reality: delivering more power, more water and more connectivity," it said.
