Preserve Northeast Texas
The editorial defends the current plan to take about 30,000 acres in East Texas by eminent domain in order to meet the increasing water demands of North Texas via the Marvin Nichols Reservoir. Before choosing that option, each of us should consider the personal impact of the land grab.
It’s time to stop using 20th century methods to solve 21st century water woes. The recent, rather disingenuous, editorial assumes that Marvin Nichols Reservoir is the only solution.
After decades of protest, the reservoir, which would seize land from generational East Texans, is still being considered.
Lana Ferguson with the Dallas Morning News tells us how officials say the Marvin Nichols Reservoir is needed to meet water demand, but some locals insist the land is ‘not for sale.’
Officials say the Marvin Nichols Reservoir is needed to meet water demand, but some locals insist the land is ‘not for sale.’
An intense regional battle over water supply is bubbling up across North Texas. Water planners are split over the creation of the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir in northeast Texas. Water managers in DFW are planning on the 66,000-acre project; local planners are not.
Dozens of North Texans filled a May 19 meeting held by state water planners. Many shared the same goal: voicing their opposition against a proposed $7 billion Northeast Texas reservoir that’s been proposed for over 50 years.
East Texas supporters of the bill are encouraging everyone to call members of the Texas State House Calendar Committee to put HB 2109 on the schedule to be heard. Organizers said it is a bipartisan issue that affects everyone.
State Rep. Gary Vandeaver recently introduced House Bill 2109 to the Committee on Natural Resources. The bill would require the removal of any proposed reservoir project from the state water plan, if construction has not begun within 50 years. While Conway says she’s often felt like their concerns have fallen on deaf ears, she says the new legislation has given her new hope for a future in Red River County.
State water leaders will now have to decide whether the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir, designed to be built in northeast Texas and pump water more than 100 miles back to Dallas-Fort Worth, is an interregional conflict — potentially causing water plans to be altered.
On Tuesday, Region D Water Planning Group chairman Jim Thompson penned a letter officially asking the Texas Water Development Board to declare the inclusion of the reservoir as a conflict and resolve it.
The inclusion of the Marvin Nichols Reservoir in the plan has already garnered some attention. The Region D Water Planning Group recently declared a conflict over a manmade lake that would be built in northeast Texas, and pump water more than 100 miles back to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Dan Buhman, Region C chairman and general manager of the Tarrant Regional Water District, said input from stakeholders is vital to water planning.
Tensions over the proposed 66,000-acre Marvin Nichols Reservoir came to a head once again Wednesday as northeast Texas water planners unanimously voted to declare the project is an interregional conflict.