‘I will not leave’: Northeast Texans decry reservoir project, say DFW should do more to meet own water needs

One of Northeast Texas residents’ main concerns is how much land the reservoir will consume. While the area to be flooded would measure roughly 66,000 acres, perhaps as much as 130,000 acres or more surrounding the flooded area would have to be requisitioned to replace submerged wildlife habitats, according to the anti-reservoir group Preserve Northeast Texas.

Leaders of the Region D Water Planning Group, which represents the area where the reservoir would be built, have worked with Region C leaders for years to stave off construction.

The loss of farmland and forest would harm the agricultural and timber industries, which are major economic drivers in the area.

Ward and project planners say the amount of land needed for mitigation can’t be determined until the project has been permitted.

The destruction of Northeast Texas families’ ancestral homes was the subject of many speakers’ laments Wednesday. But the loss of land also could harm the counties that no longer will be able to collect property taxes from the submerged land.

Lessons from the WestDuring Wednesday’s meeting, Northeast Texans questioned whether Dallas-Fort Worth-area residents are doing enough to supply their own water needs. They argue that the region could get the water it needs from existing sources, reduce water loss from leaky infrastructure and increase conservation.

The debate surrounding the Marvin Nichols Reservoir bears resemblance to another project designed to support growth and sustain water-intensive lawns, lifestyles and farming practices where the landscape no longer could.

To supply a booming population across the American West, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation constructed Lake Powell and Lake Mead in 1963, impounding the Colorado River at the Arizona-Nevada border and creating the two largest reservoirs in the country.

Forty million Americans now depend on the Colorado River for water.

The illusion of endless water the reservoirs offered brought suburbs, golf courses and ornamental ponds to the nation’s driest states and turned California’s mars-like Imperial Valley into an agricultural powerhouse. But by the early 2000s, the boom times collided with a hard reality, not unlike the one water planners in Texas see looming on the horizon: The reservoirs and the river that supplies them couldn’t keep up with demand.

While Western states have engaged in increasingly tense legal battles for a piece of the Colorado River’s shrinking pie, several of the region’s hardest-hit cities have found ways to grow while using less water — case studies for how Texas could approach water security without Marvin Nichols.

Las Vegas is a leader among Western cities, slashing per-capita water use by nearly 70% since 1990 through policies requiring native plants where turf once dominated, graduated water pricing for the most wasteful users and recycling water for indoor use.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area is neither as hot nor as arid as Southern Nevada, but critics of the Marvin Nichols Reservoir say more water conservation efforts should take place in Region C.

Ward said those efforts are ongoing and have been successful. People living in Region C use an average of 147 gallons of water per capita per day, a reduction of 30% from 2006, Ward said.

Water usage is higher in Dallas, where the Texas Water Development Board has set a target for the city’s per-capita water usage to be reduced to 166 gallons per-day by 2070 — a 7% drop during the next 50 years. To put the 166 gallon target in perspective, a Dallas household in 2070 would still be consuming nearly twice as much water as an average Denver household does in 2024.

According to the water development board’s annual surveys, Region C’s largest water utilities consume more water than comparable utilities do anywhere else in the state.

Meanwhile, reservoirs in the West and the Lonestar State are threatened by accelerated evaporation from temperature increases brought on by climate change.

“Between 2020 and 2070, Dallas’ existing water reserves are expected to decrease due to sedimentation and increased evaporation of reservoirs due to anticipated temperature increases,” according to the city of Dallas’ Office of Environmental Quality and Sustainability.

Ward said water usage planners will continue to push conservation and wastewater recycling measures to improve the Dallas-Fort Worth area’s water security.

“We know that conservation is not going to get us where we need to go,” Ward said. “We’re going to need water. We actively are pursuing new water supplies, fully developing the existing water supplies, by looking at developing Lake Texoma water to its fullest extent.”

‘This is our Alamo’Jim Thompson, chairman of the Region D Water Planning Group, garnered applause Wednesday when he said the reservoir should be removed from the state’s water plan. It would be one of the largest instances in which private property has been confiscated, he said.

Thompson also responded to one of Ward’s points that metroplex residents need additional water to maintain their quality of life: “I know a lot of people out here whose quality of life will be ruined if this project goes through.”

Cheatwood, who pledged to stay on his property, is the son of an equally rooted man. His father garnered applause, too, when he stood up and said: “This is our Alamo. This is where we’re going to stay.”

Rita Beving, a representative of consumer rights group Public Citizen, said many people in Dallas oppose the project and support Northeast Texans in their fight against the reservoir.