LCRA was established to wholesale raw water from the Lower Colorado River Basin.  In the 1992, LCRA bought their first water and wastewater systems.  In 1994, it bought the Uplands that expanded their retail operation ten-fold in Western Travis and Hays Counties.  It later bought the bankrupt Lometa Water System expanding into Lampasas, San Saba, Mills and Burnet Counties.  Not only is LCRA in the retail business, but it is also selling water to parts of Hays and Lampasas Counties not in the LCRA service area.  It runs its water lines wherever developers want to develop.  (The retail operations into Hays County led the City of Austin to prohibit any of their $100 million they paid LCRA to be used in Hays County.)

How is LCRA in the retail business without legislation to allow it?  A liberal interpretation of the Texas Water Code that states it "may use, distribute and sell those waters" was enough for the LCRA Board to authorize it.  Being legal never stopped LCRA before, especially when they sold water to Williamson County under the guise of part of Cedar Park and Leander being in Travis County.