3 April 13–19, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents WAVE OF THE FUTURE Threatened rural landowners see new hope plug might be pulled on Marvin Nichols Reservoir. BY JACOB VAUGHN I f you really want to get to know people in Cuthand, just go to the local church on Sundays. Whether they know you or not, the people in the tiny community 135 miles northeast of Dallas will greet you as though you’re one of them just re- turning from a long trip away from home. The red-brick United Methodist Church is the town’s place of worship, but it’s also where the community meets from time to time to plan its opposition to the Marvin Nichols Res- ervoir, which may one day inundate their land. It would flood at least 65,000 acres across Red River and Titus counties, all to help serve the estimated 14.7 million people who may live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in 2070. The property rights and concerns of landowners in the rural northeast part of Texas where the reservoir would be built seemed to mean little to those trying to meet that demand. For decades, suggested alter- natives to the proposed reservoir have been shrugged off by state water planners. But the tide is starting to turn, said Janice Bezanson, senior policy director for the Texas Conservation Alliance, an advocacy group focused on preserving wildlife. “There’s beginning to be a deeper under- standing with policy makers around the state that just building another reservoir is not the right way,” Bezanson said. “That’s the 1950s solution to a 2023 problem.” The road ahead is looking bright to Be- zanson. She said there seems to be hope for Northeast Texas landowners coming from the governor and the state Legislature. Gov. Greg Abbott commented on the res- ervoir earlier this year saying that other op- tions should be considered. “There are water needs, whether it be in the Dallas area or even in the Tyler area,” Abbott told CBS 19 in Feb- ruary. “But what we must do, we must ex- plore other options before we start taking people’s lands or flooding property that’s been around for literally centuries. … I think that [the] Texas Water Board as well as legis- lators, they’re looking for possibilities that would be something other than taking the land.” The Marvin Nichols Res- ervoir is not a recommended strategy for Dallas Water Utilities, but it is listed as an alternative. The reservoir is still up for consideration in the North Texas Municipal District plan, which serves Plano, McKinney and other communities north and northeast of Dallas. It’s also a recommended water strat- egy for Tarrant Regional Water District and the Upper Trinity Regional Water District. The reservoir has made it into the state’s overall water plan. Kevin Ward, general manager of the Trin- ity River Authority and chair of the DFW re- gional planning group, helped create the state’s water plan. He says planners have con- sidered alternatives to the Marvin Nichols reservoir, but those options would produce too little water or cause too much environ- mental damage, Ward told the Observer in 2021. He said then there’s no other area in the state that could accommodate a reservoir big enough to serve DFW’s water needs. But Bezanson said she hopes legislation can remove the reservoir from the state wa- ter plan and fund alternative water sources. There’s potential for this to happen through Senate Bill 28 and House Bill 1565, now pending before the Legislature. Sen. Charles Perry, a Lubbock Republi- can, filed SB 28 to establish a new Water Supply for Texas Fund to ensure the state has enough water to serve the estimated 2070 population. Without intervention, Texas is set to be short some 7 million acre feet of water every year by 2070, Perry said. (An acre foot equals 325,851 gallons, or enough water to cover one acre one foot deep.) If Perry’s bill passes, the funds could be used to buy water from other states, in- vest in desalination projects and fix aging water infrastructure across Texas, among other things. Perry said the state loses about 136 billion gallons of water every day be- cause of its aging water infrastructure. Perry has said he supports new supply options over reservoirs because he’s con- cerned with how feasible the dam projects are. These projects can often be delayed by financing, environmental concerns and local opposition, as can be seen in Northeast Texas. “I’m not against [reservoirs],” he said, according to The Texas Tribune. “I’m just saying … the plan has to be as close to reality as possible.” For years, advocates and residents in Northeast Texas have been saying that they would file lawsuits to halt the construction of the reservoir. Bezanson said those law- suits would likely come if or when permits are filed to build the reservoir. Some positive change could come in the form of HB 1565, Bezanson said. The Texas Water Development Board is up for sunset review and could be amended under HB 1565, authored by Texas House Rep. Terry Canales, a Democrat from Edinburg. Bezan- son testified at the state capital in March to ask lawmakers to take the Marvin Nichols Reservoir out of Texas’ water plan as part of HB 1564. “These people have had this proposed reservoir hanging over them for 22 years not knowing whether they should expand their business, build a house, cut trees, grow trees,” Bezanson told lawmakers during the House Committee on Natural Resources hearing on the bill. “They’ve suffered signifi- cant economic loss and enormous anxiety and bitterly oppose this, most of them.” What effect Bezanson’s testimony might have on the state’s water plans won’t be known until later in the legislative session, but she’s confident the Marvin Nichols Res- ervoir can be defeated and more can be done to supply thirsty DFW with water. Texas was parched by historic droughts in the 1950s. In a search for ways to mitigate damage from future dry spells, state water planners turned to reservoirs. By 1980, Texas had 126 of them. That decade, the Texas Water Development Board | UNFAIR PARK | Nathan Hunsinger Jim Marshall (leftt) and his neighbor Gary Cheatwood walk along the Sulfur Riverwhich borders Marshall’s property. Nathan Hunsinger Marshall and Cheatwood examine a topological map of the area. >> p4
