During a meeting of the Region D Water Planning Group, concerned citizens spoke out against a project proposal for a reservoir.
The Region D WPG, which oversees much of East Texas, met on Wednesday to discuss the proposed construction of the Marvin Nichols Reservoir. The proposed reservoir would deliver drinking water to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex but would require the use of eminent domain to acquire nearly 200,000 acres in East Texas for the project.
The meeting was a packed event, with northeast Texans voicing concerns over the project.
Suzanne, from Red River County, told the crowd, “I want to respect the authority of the Texas Water Development Board as a whole, but because I have a soul and a conscience … I feel like I need to speak up because of this injustice.”
“It is totally wrong to just to destroy one object, to build another. And that is what this lake will do. Much of this land has been in our families, more than four generations,” said Linda Silman.
“I will not leave. You can send the Texas Rangers, the FBI, and the National Guard, and I will not leave,” said Gary Cheatwood, another concerned citizen who attended the meeting.
Along with hearing concerns from the public, a presentational overview of the Marvin Nichols Reservoir project was given by the Region D WPG, along with discussion from both the Region D Water Group and Region C—which oversees the DFW area.
Originally proposed to be built along the Sulphur River in 1968, it wasn’t until 1984 that the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir project was included in the Texas Water Plan. Since 2001 when the DFW-area Region C WPG started pressing for the reservoir, residents of northeast Texas have been vocally and actively pushing back against the project.
According to Preserve Northeast Texas, a group of citizens fighting the project, the reservoir would destroy the local timber and agricultural industries, with the timber industry being the major economic factor in the northeast.
“Building the Marvin Nichols Reservoir will flood 66,000 acres of productive agricultural land, including thousands of acres of hardwood forest. It would inundate rural school districts, displace families that have been on that land since the 1830s, destroy their homes, and wash away the graves of their ancestors,” writes David Marquis, an author and conservationist, in an article from October 2023 for Texas Conservation Alliance regarding the Marvin Nichols Reservoir project.
“In addition, it would require at least another 130,000 acres of land to be set aside to meet federal mitigation policies so that, in total, building that reservoir would take more than 200,000 acres out of production. This would have a devastating effect on northeast Texas’ economy,” continued Marquis.
The project would destroy the habitat of local and migratory animals and force many families out of the area.
The Region D Water Planning Group has also spoken against the George Parkhouse Lake project, which the Region C WPG has mentioned as another potential reservoir site in their water plan.
The Region D WPG meeting was streamed and is available for viewing on the No Marvin Nichols Facebook page.
No ads. No paywalls. No government grants. No corporate masters.
Just real news for real Texans.
Support Texas Scorecard to keep it that way!
