Why is the BRA overselling water from Lake Granbury?
The Authority has not oversold water from any of the reservoirs within the Brazos system as the reservoirs are not operated as stand alone water supplies. Through a standard water permitting process set by the state through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and through contractual negotiations, the Authority has obtained the right to provide up to 705,000 acre-feet of water basin-wide from the 11 system reservoirs and the rivers within the watershed. The Authority has contracted 700,000 acre-feet of water. Of the amount contracted, less than half is used each year. Estimates show that with the extended drought conditions in 2009, about 50 percent of the contracted water was used. Within the upper basin, Lake Granbury is operated as a part of a subsystem of Authority reservoirs including Possum Kingdom and Lake Whitney. In determining the water availability for the upper area of the Brazos basin, the total firm yield of all three lakes is combined. Together the subsys
