Lower Colorado River Authority Wins $29M for Broadband, Flood Monitoring

The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) has been awarded $29 million by the Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO) to expand rural broadband access and bolster flood-monitoring infrastructure across Central Texas.

The grant will support a three-pronged initiative focused on improving Internet access points, upgrading flood-monitoring towers and extending fiber infrastructure deeper into rural communities. The effort is designed to reduce barriers for private Internet service providers (ISPs) while simultaneously increasing the resiliency of critical infrastructure in flood-prone regions.

The LCRA will build on authority granted through Senate Bill 632, passed by the Texas Legislature in 2021, which allows the organization to develop and operate middle-mile broadband infrastructure. Under this model, LCRA constructs the high-capacity backbone and makes it available to ISPs, which then deliver retail broadband services to homes, businesses and institutions.

Severe flooding in July 2025 exposed vulnerabilities in the region’s emergency communication systems, reinforcing the need for real-time data and reliable connectivity in disaster scenarios.

“This grant helps us do two important things at once,” said LCRA General Manager Phil Wilson in the state’s announcement. “We can make LCRA’s fiber network accessible to Internet providers who want to serve rural customers, and we can expand connectivity for flood monitoring systems across the region.”

The LCRA grant aligns with a broader wave of broadband investment in Texas. In November 2025, the U.S. Department of Commerce approved the state’s $1.27 billion plan under the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, which will fund last-mile service to more than 240,000 unserved and underserved locations statewide.

To maximize impact and inclusivity, the state also launched the Texas Match Assistance Program (TMAP), which awarded $177 million in state funds to help smaller broadband providers meet federal matching requirements. According to the Texas Comptroller’s Office, more than 4,500 applications were received for BEAD funding, with a selection process that prioritized speed, technical readiness and cost efficiency.

All BEAD-funded projects are subject to milestone-based payments, mandatory low-cost service offerings and clawback provisions to ensure accountability. Subgrantees are required to complete deployments within four years and must submit regular progress reports.

For LCRA, the broadband grant enhances a pre-existing infrastructure footprint, enabling rapid expansion into underserved areas. The project will involve improving ISP access points to LCRA’s fiber backbone, upgrading connectivity at flood-monitoring sites and expanding fiber into rural communities that lack affordable service options.