AUSTIN, Texas — With extreme drought gripping Central Texas and no clear timeline for the next significant rain, the Lower Colorado River Authority has approved a new 12-year plan aimed at reshaping how water is managed — a move that has some Travis County residents worried about whether their taps will keep running.

Jeanie Shirley, who lives in Spicewood Beach, said water shortages have already changed daily life.

“I haven’t been able to plant anything. I have to carry water out from my bathroom,” Shirley said.

The LCRA’s board of directors voted 12-2 to approve the staff’s recommendation for the new plan. During the meeting, Robert Lewis, Director of Bastrop County for LCRA, urged speakers to keep comments brief, saying, “If what you’re going to say is redundant, we have a very tough schedule to get through today.”

LCRA Executive Vice President for Water John Hofmann said the proposal is designed to meet Central Texas growth demands while changing when conservation measures begin and limiting some downstream irrigation supplies.

“Our trigger points for when conservation measures happen to happen sooner, and this interruptible water supply that we use for our downstream irrigation is much more limited than what it was before,” Hofmann said.

The plan also reduces available water for first crop and lays out water conservation steps for different drought levels.

But residents in Spicewood Beach — one of two towns that officially ran out of water in 2012 — said they fear the plan’s numbers won’t protect them in the future.

“LCRA is the root of the problem. We will again look to them to truck in water at their expense,” said Debbie Brown, a Spicewood Beach resident.

Pam Simek, also of Spicewood Beach, said, “Please don’t do to us now what you did to us in 2012.”

Shannon Hamilton, executive director of the Central Texas Water Coalition, said it is positive that LCRA is making changes, but she wants more water held back.

“I would like to see us slow down the releases. Rapid depletion is a real concern. We need to slow down. We need to start curtailing sooner,” Hamilton said.

Asked about community concerns, Hofmann said the new approach offers more protection than the current plan.

“This is a plan that is a much more protected plan than the previous plan we’re operating under right now. And it’s responsive to the exact concerns that’ve been raised,” Hofmann said.

The proposal now goes to the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality for review.