Dozens of North Texans filled a May 19 meeting held by state water planners. Many shared the same goal: voicing their opposition against a proposed $7 billion Northeast Texas reservoir that’s been proposed for over 50 years.
Simone Kiel, of the Freese and Nichols Inc. engineering firm, presented a draft plan to the Dallas-Fort Worth Area water planning group known as Region C. The group, established by the Texas Water Development Board, is tasked with outlining strategies on how regional water suppliers can secure and provide water for the region for the next 50 years.
Those plans include homing in on conserving and reusing water, tapping into more groundwater, but primarily relying on continued use of existing water supplies and identifying new surface water sources — such as controversial projects like the Marvin Nichols Reservoir.
The reservoir, which would flood more than 60,000 acres of land in water-rich Northeast Texas, has long been met by opposition from residents. Advocacy groups have sought to remove the reservoir from the state’s water plan or push its anticipated completion back to 2070. They have cited concerns about how the reservoir would flood privately owned farmland, resulting in economic loss.
“For decades, this project has looked over farmers and ranchers, making it impossible for them to make long-range plans for their business and families,” said Dallas resident Molly Rooke.
Meanwhile, Dallas-Fort Worth water officials have defended the project as necessary to meet the region’s water needs — which are only rising with the area’s population.
What’s in the plan?
The plan identified 56 cities in North Texas with populations over 20,000 that are growing rapidly, said Kiel. Region C’s population, which consists of 16 counties in North Texas, is projected to increase from 9.1 million people in 2030 to 15 million residents by 2080. Dallas and Fort Worth make up over 60% of the region’s population.
Based on those projections, the demand for 1.9 million acre-feet of water per year in 2030 will significantly increase, to over 3 million acre-feet per year by 2080.
Utilizing existing methods and adopting additional conservation and reuse strategies would assist the region in saving 1.28 million acre-feet per year of water by 2080, the plan outlines.
But even after reuse and conservation, the region is still left with a water deficit of about 1 million acre-feet per year, according to Kiel.
Identifying water needs throughout several regions in North Texas, the plan outlines recommendations specific to each of the region’s water supply agencies, including the Tarrant Regional Water District.
Referencing Fort Worth’s population hitting just over a million last year, the plan projects local water officials will need to collect nearly 503,000 acre-feet of water each year from 2030 to 2080 to meet the region’s water demands.
The city and the Tarrant Regional Water District — which supplies water primarily to the greater Fort Worth area — are recommended to adopt strategies calling for partnerships, expand water treatment plants, implement reuse projects and expand the water district’s current supplies.
One of those reuse projects would serve developments in the rapidly growing Alliance area in north Fort Worth, using treated wastewater from the Trinity River Authority’s Denton Creek Regional Wastewater System.
The five water treatment plants the city currently oversees collectively produce 525 million gallons of water a day. In order to meet demand within the next 50 years, Fort Worth is recommended to expand its treatment plants to produce up to 830 million gallons of water a day by 2080.
The plan calculates 33% of water would have to be sourced from new supplies by 2080, more than any other strategy outlined by the engineering firm.
Those new supplies would tap into proposed reservoir sites located in the Red, Trinity, Sulphur or Neches river basins.
Marvin Nichols at center of conflict for five decades
The Marvin Nichols Reservoir was first proposed in the state’s water plan in 1968, with the intent to pump 80% of the reservoir’s supply to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Projected to be located along the Sulphur River, Region D — which covers Longview, Texarkana and Greenville — is considered one of the top sites in Texas in regard to surface water protection and acquisition, according to a 2008 study conducted by state water officials.
The reservoir would store 1,532,000 acre-feet of water covering 66,103 acres of surface water. The remaining 20% of the reservoir’s water would remain in the Sulphur River for local use.
A feasibility study conducted on the Marvin Nichols Reservoir last year found that 25,000 acres of wetlands and 9,000 acres of forests would be impacted by the project.
In addition to the reservoir’s actual acreage, the state would have to acquire at least 130,000 more acres of privately owned land to mitigate the loss of wildlife habitat and meet federal requirements.
Rooke, the Dallas resident, told water planners Monday that she is worried about Northeast Texas residents being pushed out of their homes if the state uses eminent domain, Texas’ authority to take private property for public use, to construct the reservoir.
“There are more cost-effective measures for adding water supply to the DFW region and that would avoid the social, environmental and economic destruction that the reservoir would cause,” said Rooke.
The feasibility study found the reservoir would flood about 7.4% of Northeast Texas timberlands and .8% of its agricultural and pasture lands. But Kiel added that new water supplies would have a positive impact on the state.
“The ability to develop new water supplies and meet future growth is critical to the state’s economy,” said Kiel.
Aside from monetary loss, other speakers insisted the Marvin Nichols Reservoir would act against the state’s effort to collect more water.
“Reservoirs are increasingly affected by drought and evaporation as well as reduction in capacity due to sedimentation,” said Duncanville resident James Orenstein. “I believe Region C needs to explore, in more detail, all available alternatives, including the increased use of existing supplies and conservation.”
Texans opposing the reservoir have taken their concerns to lawmakers. Members of the advocacy group Preserve Northeast Texas have largely backed HB 2109, filed by state Rep. Gary VanDeaver. The proposal would prohibit state planners from including reservoirs in the planning document if construction on the proposed site has not begun within 50 years, which would prohibit the construction of Marvin Nichols.
The bill appears to have died in the Legislature this session, as House members did not vote on the proposal before a key mid-May deadline.
Rita Beving, with advocacy group Public Citizen, cited her conversations with state representatives on the reservoir as she opposed its construction.
“I agree with one representative who said, ‘Enough is enough.’ It’s time to take Marvin Nichols out of the Region C plan,” said Beving.
The public has until July 18 to submit comments regarding the planning draft. The final document will be submitted to the water development board Oct. 25 to consider adoption of the plan.
Nicole Lopez is the environment reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at nicole.lopez@fortworthreport.org.
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