Water leaders, public to discuss proposed Northeast Texas reservoir
From staff reports
Victoria Advocate, October 29, 2024
Northeast Texans will be able to voice their opinions about the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir Project during a Wednesday meeting in Pittsburg.
The Regional Water Planning Group D will hold a public discussion about the impact of the proposed reservoir at 1 p.m. at the Region 8 Education Service Center, 4845 U.S. 271 N.
The meeting is the latest development surrounding the controversial reservoir, which for decades has been proposed as a way to provide the growing Dallas-Fort Worth area with more water.
Residents and lawmakers from Northeast Texas continue to fight the project vehemently. The reservoir is proposed for construction by 2050, according to the Dallas Morning News.
The $7 billion project would claim roughly 200,000 acres of land in Delta, Franklin, Lamar, Titus and Red River counties, using eminent domain to force families and farmers from their homes, according to the Preserve Northeast Texas organization, which opposes the reservoir.
The Region C water planning group, which represents the Dallas-Fort Worth region, has championed the reservoir as a way to meet the growing need for water in that area.
The Preserve Northeast Texas organization’s leaders state that the idea is an antiquated way to meet water demands, and the Region D water planning group — which represents Northeast Texas — opposes it.
Members of the public will be able to speak during Wednesday’s meeting, which will include presentations by the Region C and D water planning group leaders.
According to documents Region C planning group leaders will discuss Wednesday, the reservoir would claim almost 43,000 acres of timberland and have a negative impact on the timber industry. It’ll also flood nearly 19,000 acres of agricultural land.
“The project would capture thousands of acres of family lands, drown resources that would devastate the timber and agriculture-based economy in the region, and inundate archaeological and historic sites and cemeteries,” a statement on the Preserve Northeast Texas’ website reads. “Thousands of Texans would be forced to sell their land, move from their homes, and watch generations of memories drown under a reservoir.”
State Rep. Gary VanDeaver, R-New Boston, wrote a Sept. 27 letter opposing the project, saying it “would not only be catastrophic for Northeast Texas businesses, but for the families that have called this land home for so long.” He said the project would be “one of the largest land grabs by eminent domain in Texas history.”
Janice Bezanson, senior policy director at the Texas Conservation Alliance, told the Longview News-Journal in 2023 that more than 1,000 families would be displaced by the reservoir.
The Preserve Northeast Texas group and others say the Dallas-Fort Worth area’s water needs could be met by drawing water from Lake Texoma and the Toledo Bend Reservoir, ramp up recycling of existing water supplies, promote water conservation and repair water infrastructure.
The reservoir’s namesake was an engineer and civic leader who served as the first chairman of the Texas Water Development Board, which oversees the state’s water supplies.