Texas Water War

[Draggingtree]

The American Conservative:

Texas Water War

Does economic growth trump property rights?

By Henry Chappell • July 31, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

Illustration by Michael Hogue

The Sulphur River rises in northeast Texas and flows eastward through some of the last and best hardwood bottomland in the state. Culturally and ecologically, this region is the South, a country of turbid waters flowing beneath white oak, bur oak, Shumard oak, and ash. Here a few cowmen still work in the Cracker manner, with the help of rough “cur-dogs” that might pull night shifts baying feral hogs.

 

Scattered about the region are small communities—Cuthand, Naples, Omaha, Dalby Springs. All support, and are supported by, farming, logging, and the broader timber industry. Hunting and fishing are deeply embedded in the culture.

They want Sulphur River water “to ensure continued economic growth” and claim that their region’s economic contribution to the state gives them a right to it. If they prevail, 67,000 acres of prime hardwood bottomland—all privately owned—will be condemned, taken under eminent domain, and drowned beneath a reservoir that will supply water to a growing Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Then, to satisfy environmental requirements, additional land—as much as 140,000 acres—will be condemned and set aside to mitigate the loss of high-quality wildlife habitat.

[Draggingtree]

Stage set for resolution of Marvin Nichols reservoir conflict

Posted: Friday, July 19, 2013 11:25 pm

Stage set for resolution of Marvin Nichols reservoir conflictFrom Staff Reportsdailytribune.net

Residents of northeast Texas, conservationists and fiscal conservatives from around the state are pleased that the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) is not appealing a case regarding water planning to the Texas Supreme Court.

The District Court ruling in the lawsuit, brought by Ward Timber and several landowners in the Sulphur River Basin, requires TWDB to resolve a conflict between two of the state’s official Water Planning Groups.

“The Regional Water Planning Group for the Dallas-Fort Worth area, called Region C, is recommending that a new reservoir called Marvin Nichols be built,” said Richard LeTourneau of Longview, vice chair of Texas Conservation Alliance and a former chairman of the North East Texas Water Planning Group. “The North East Regional Water Planning Group, called Region D in the water planning process, opposes construction of Marvin Nichols because of the harm it would do to the land, natural resources, and economy of northeast Texas where the reservoir would be built.”

The proposed reservoir would inundate tens of thousands of acres of productive ranches and timberland. Additional land would be taken out of production as “mitigation” for the reservoir, land that would be set aside to compensate for lost wetlands and wildlife habitat. Economists predict extensive negative impacts to the region’s agriculture/timber economy, http://www.dailytribune.net/news/stage-set-for-resolution-of-marvin-nichols-reservoir-conflict/article_6b4ca63c-f0f4-11e2-9299-001a4bcf887a.html