Texas Water Development Board approves $21-million loan to the Lavaca-Navidad River Authority for acquisition of title of the Bureau of Reclamation's ownership in Lake Texana
The LNRA is a conservation and reclamation district, created in 1941. LNRA was created for the purpose or controlling, storing, preserving and distributing the storm and flood waters of Jackson County and for providing local sponsorship for the Palmetto Bend Dam and Reservoir Project (Palmetto Bend Project, also known as Lake Texana). The boundaries of the LNRA are coextensive with the boundaries of Jackson County.
The Palmetto Bend Project was built by the U. S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) with the LNRA and the TWDB as local sponsors. The dam impounds the Navidad River into the 18-mile long Lake Texana.
The Palmetto Bend project was authorized for construction in October 1968 by Public Law 90-562. Construction of the project was initiated in 1972 by a tri-party contract among the United States, the TWDB, and the LNRA. The contract obligates both the TWDB and the LNRA to make debt service payments for reimbursable elements of the project, but provides that title to the project remain with the BOR. The TWDB executed the contract as part of its authority to participate in the ownership of dams and reservoirs to assure the optimum development of the state's limited reservoir sites. At the same time, the TWDB and LNRA entered into an agreement to better define the responsibilities of each. The contract defines ownership interest in the use of the project to the TWDB (57.33%) and the LNRA (42.67%) and anticipates the LNRA purchasing the TWDB interest in the project.
Congress enacted the Palmetto Bend Conveyance Act, Public Law 106-512, ("Conveyance Act") on November 13, 2000, allowing the LNRA and the TWDB to repay the adjusted net present value of the outstanding obligation under the federal contract. In addition, the law provides for the United States to convey all right, title, and interest in the project (excluding the mineral estate) to the LNRA and for the TWDB. At its December 13, 2000 meeting, the Board of the TWDB authorized the Executive Administrator to execute a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the BOR and the LNRA regarding title transfer of Lake Texana (Palmetto Project). This loan not to exceed $21,000,000 will allow the LNRA to refund its obligations under the federal contract, resulting in the transfer of title of the federal ownership in Lake Texana.
The LNRA has contracted to supply the entire firm yield of Lake Texana to the City of Corpus Christi, Formosa Plastics Corporation, City of Point Comfort, Inteplast Corporation, Central Power and Light, and Calhoun County Navigation District. The available firm yield is 74,500 acre-feet per year for municipal and industrial use. Water is transported from the Lavaca River Basin via interbasin transfer to most of these entities. The LNRA currently serves a population of 550,500 people.
The TWDB is the state agency charged with collecting and disseminating water-related data, assisting with regional planning and preparing the State Water Plan for the development of the state's water resources and administering cost-effective financial programs for the construction of water supply, wastewater treatment, flood control and agricultural water conservation projects.
Source: Texas Water Development Board
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