Marvin Nichols topic of meeting
The East Texas Republican Women hosted an information session on the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir on June 15 in Queen City.
Kate Stow started the speaking presentations off with a historical review of the proposed lake and the history of the lands and the heritage that would be put under water if the reservoir is approved by the Texas Water Development Board.
Region D representative Jim Thompson then spoke, starting off with the statement “This reservoir is flawed.” Thompson defined the proposed reservoir as a really bad thing for the people of Northeast Texas. Thompson also noted that despite what the people of the Dallas area say, they do not need the water for Northeast Texas to meet their proposed needs in the future.
The reservoir, which stands at close to 66,000 acres, would inundate the Sulphur River bottoms burying the pristine bottomland hardwood forests that currently stand there. That does not include the thousands of acres that would then be lost forever for mitigation purposes.
The loss of those forests and mitigated lands would result in as much as over $200 million in negative economic impacts, including the loss of hundreds of local jobs.
Thompson compared Marvin Nichols to other area lakes like Lake Texoma, noting that with all of the other area lakes, no mitigation was required when they were constructed. Then came Cooper Lake and the issue of mitigation became very real. Experts involved with the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir estimate anywhere from 200,000 to 400,000 acres will have to be set aside for mitigation, and lost forever to any beneficial purpose. In fact, a US Fish and Wildlife report issued in 2000 stated that there is not enough bottomland hardwood habitat in the Sulphur River Basin to mitigate for the losses that would be cost by the reservoir’s construction. That would mean that every single acre of the basin would be lost forever. That would be catastrophic for the timber industry in our area, and all of the other industries that depend on timber.
Janice Bezanson, of the Texas Conservation Alliance, then spoke to the crowd, noting that the wildlife habitat and the economic stability of Northeast Texas would be negatively impacted by the construction of Marvin Nichols Reservoir.
Bezanson, drew attention to the importance of water reuse for the folks of the Dallas area, claiming that conservation efforts and the reuse of current water sources, such as the Trinity River, would be more than enough to meet the future water needs of the metroplex. She also noted that the effort to push the lake’s construction was not actually the City of Dallas, but more from suburbs surrounding Dallas.
Bezanson also noted the staggering costs of building the proposed reservoir, which is now almost $4.5 billion, and growing every year.
During a question and answer session, Bezanson noted that two separate permits would be required to push the lake forward, and stopping them from being “rubber stamped” is key to stopping the lake. Thompson added and emphasized that through conservation efforts, and the use of the water already at Toledo Bend and Texoma, the water needs of Region C could be met for decades without including Marvin Nichols. That includes not only the coming 2022 state water plan, but never.
Bezanson warned those in attendance that the need to stand up against the lake is now, noting that once the permits are issued, and the construction begins, it will be much harder to stop. That becomes important in that Region C has stated that they need Marvin Nichols to meet their water needs in 2050, and by their own admission, it would take 30 years to build. So, the push to get the lake started is going on now.
A new effort has been initiated to stand against the proposed reservoir, and it can be found at www.preservenortheasttexas.org
The organizers of the new effort seek to educate the citizens across Northeast Texas to the economic, social and other costs that would come from the construction of the reservoir, and those costs would be not only drastic, but forever. Those involve ask that you contact your elected officials, local, state and federal, and let them know how you feel about the proposed reservoir.