The Lower Colorado River Authority will pursue the creation of a nonprofit land trust to help preserve land and water quality in the Colorado River basin for future generations. General Manager Becky Motal discussed the trust with the Board of Directors Land and Community Resources Committee Tuesday.

The new trust will acquire and manage conservation easements in the Colorado River watershed.

“A land trust is a great concept for LCRA to facilitate,” said Timothy Timmerman, chair of the LCRA Board of Directors. “This land trust will focus on preservation of the Colorado River basin and will allow landowners to preserve their lands for future generations of Texans.”

A conservation easement is a restriction landowners voluntarily place on their properties to govern future use of the land and preserve family farms, wildlife habitat and natural or historical land features. The restrictions on future land use will remain in place even if land is bought, sold or inherited.

The trust will provide stewardship of conservation easements in the Colorado River basin. The easements will help preserve the river’s health and reduce potential sources of water pollution, as well as further LCRA’s mission as a responsible steward of the basin’s natural resources. The trust will accept donations of land, purchase land and negotiate private, voluntary conservation agreements to restrict future land use.

“A big part of our mission is land conservation and stewardship of the lower Colorado River,” said Becky Motal, LCRA general manager. “A land trust helps us in that mission by preserving and conserving the natural resources of the river basin.”

LCRA will provide in-kind services to assist the trust in preparing articles of incorporation and bylaws. Members of the trust will include three members of the LCRA Board of Directors and six members of the public. The members must live or own land in the Colorado River basin.