As bundled Westbankers put their faucets on drip through the freezing nights, it’s easy to forget the record-breaking heat of the summer, and its accompanying drought.

Lower Colorado River Authority meteorologist Bob Rose says that meteorologically speaking, the drought is over, but that the lakes are still only about 58 percent full.

“Through the end of winter, we’ll see colder-than-normal temperatures even into March,” he said. “The forecast for wetter than normal conditions looks like it’s going to continue well on through spring, even into late spring, and that’s great news.”

While he expected the severe cold snap to end this week, Thursday and Friday were expected to bring two to four inches of rain.

“This type of rain should produce run-off, which will help put more water into our lakes; this will cause continued improvement.”

And Rose said Central Texans would not likely see a repeat of last summer.

“This year, if we stay even near normal to wetter than normal, it will be much harder to have that kind of weather like we had last year,” he said.

But a wet spring does not change the overall climate of the area, and residents should remain focused on water conservation and landscapes with native plants even during periods of abundant water.

“We have on our Web site a lot of simple tips for saving water,” said LCRA spokesperson Emlea Chanslor. “Right now, there is a lot of the focus on indoor water since most utilities use wastewater winter averaging, meaning the water bill for the whole year is based on the winter average.”

The lake volume hit a low during the drought of about 600,000 acre-feet, and it’s steadily climbed since the beginning of the fall to its current volume of 1.16 million acre-feet.

As it passed 900,000 acre-feet, the LCRA lifted its mandatory conservation measures for all customers, though the city of Austin remains on its twice-a-week watering schedule. It also eked through another benchmark of the LCRA’s water management plan, coming in above 1.1 million acre-feet on Jan. 1.

If the lake level passed the date below that level, the LCRA could curtail supply to large irrigation operations, mostly rice farmers, down stream. And there is still a possibility that may happen.

“There was a little bit of a twist here,” Chanslor said. “We are working with TCEQ to get an updated water management plan that would raise that to 1.4 million acre-feet. If that happens before Feb. 1, it will take effect this year.”

For more information on water supply and water-saving tips, visit www.lcra.org/savewater.