Could a legal decision help save Marvin Nichols?

Earlier this week Texas Conservation Alliance sent a press release informing people that there was a hearing that stopped the build of a potential lake that like this area’s situation would have flooded their area to introduce a large body of water. The TCA has been at the forefront of informing the greater community of Northeast Texas about the dangers of the Marvin Nichols Project.

If successful as the Texas Living Waters website puts it, “the project would result in one of the largest reservoirs in Texas, flooding over 72,000 acres of land adjacent to the Sulphur River in rural Northeast Texas. The majority of the project’s water would be piped roughly 170 miles uphill to cities in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.”

TCA who identifies themselves this way, issued a press release this week: “Through grassroots advocacy and community coalitions, Texas Conservation Alliance protects and preserves wildlife and wild habitats for the future benefit of all Texans. TCA got involved with reservoir issues because of the huge environmental impacts but quickly realized that the economic and social repercussions of such projects are equally worthy of attention.

The release reads this way: “Citing evidence presented in a contested case hearing, Administrative Law Judge Christiaan Siano is recommending that a permit requested by the City of Wichita Falls to build the proposed Lake Ringgold be denied. Judge Siano presided over a seven-day contested case hearing at which extensive testimony was presented on the proposed reservoir, dubbed “Lake Ringgold.” His recommendation will be reviewed by the Commissioners of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for a final decision.

“This proposal for decision is a win for private property rights, landowners and for our environment,’ said Janice Bezanson, senior policy director for Texas Conservation Alliance. ‘Water is essential for life, and as Judge Siano noted, the City of Wichita Falls should be commended for past conservation and reuse efforts. However, another reservoir is unnecessary, costly, and damaging to the people and natural habitat of the Texoma Region.’

“Lake Ringgold would cost more than $450 million and permanently flood 16,000 acres, taking a total of more than 40,000 acres out of production, most of it privately owned ranch land supporting families in Clay County. That land includes more than 1,500 acres of extremely rare native tallgrass prairie, the type of habitat that sustained bison herds and native American tribes for thousands of years. Hardworking Texans will be forced to sell land that provides their livelihoods, and some will lose their homes.

“’ Both rural and urban Texans share the same goal of living in vibrant, thriving communities,’ said Deborah Clark, a cattle rancher and protestant in the case against Wichita Falls. ‘Building Lake Ringgold is not necessary, is too expensive, and doesn’t help any of our communities. I’m so pleased with the judge’s recommendation to halt progress on this project.’

“Opponents of the project – landowners, the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers, Clay County, and Texas Conservation Alliance – highlighted the large reserve supplies Wichita Falls has available, which don’t get counted when assessing future water supply needs. The judge agreed that such a large reserve supply was unsupported. He also concluded that the population projections do not support the amount of water the city is claiming it will need in the future and that the City has not adequately assessed the potential impacts to fish and wildlife habitat nor planned to fully mitigate the project’s impacts.”

In response to the Journal-Sun’s request on how this might impact the Marvin Nichols battle a spokesman for the TCA said, “This shows that reservoirs are not a done deal, that they face growing opposition, and that alternatives are viable. We look forward to watching this closely and would plan to similarly fight Marvin Nichols if it has a chance to move forward.” — Janice Bezanson, senior policy director for Texas Conservation Alliance and steering committee member for Preserve Northeast Texas.

Chris Spencer who is a Chairman of the Sulphur River Basin Authority, and recently announced candidacy for the Texas House of Representatives in House District 1 believes the decision will have very little impact on Marvin Nichols. “I don’t think a judge can stop a development, though I could be proved wrong. It would be a great thing to stop or seriously delay the development of MNR. I contend that there are other alternatives to meet the future water needs of Texans that already exist such as Toledo Bend.”