Moreover, the river's health is crucial to the operations and the goals of the LCRA itself. As such, beginning this year the LCRA is elevating its State of the River Report to a yearly publication and including it as part of its Annual Report to the public. These scores represent the best judgment of LCRA technical staff, based on water quality monitoring data and staff observations. Overall, the water quality of the lower Colorado River continues to be good to excellent, with some exceptions. Ongoing problems in the basin include salinity, algae blooms and nonpoint-source pollution.
Salinity continues to be a persistent concern in the river above Lake Buchanan and the lake itself.
Saline waters were released from reservoirs upstream of LCRA's jurisdiction in mid 1996. The salinity stems from natural as well as manmade sources, particularly leaking abandoned oil wells and certain oil field activities. Algae blooms are an occasional problem in the Highland Lakes, particularly Lake LBJ and Lake Travis. The algae growth can interfere with recreational uses of the lakes. Decomposition of the algae can cause foul odors.