Clarksville public officials have a message for regional water planners: Give us options.
The Texas Water Development Board’s Region D group, which serves Northeast Texas, hosted a public forum on July 14 at the Mount Pleasant Civic Center.
Many of the 14 people who addressed the planning group presented their continued opposition to the Marvin Nichols reservoir proposal. If built, the project would flood thousands of acres of bottomland hardwood forest along the Sulphur River between Titus County and Red River County.
However, the two speakers from Clarksville, the seat of Red River County, weren’t there to talk about Marvin Nichols. They were there to discuss Clarksville.
Clarksville City Manager Wayne Dial said that the clock is ticking on the city’s water – and that Region D isn’t doing enough to help find a solution to the impending crisis.
“It has been projected that the City of Clarksville will be unable to use its present surface water source by 2040,” Dial said. “The sedimentation rate in Langford Lake will prevent us from using it as a source of drinking water.”
The option Region D has included in the existing water plan is for a pipeline to take water from Wright Patmna Lake from Texarkana to Clarksville by way of DeKalb. Dial cited a number of complications with that option: The existing pipeline is too small, pressure is too low, and the water treatment plant in Clarksville would have to be completely modified to deal with the chlorine levels of Texarkana water.
“And the reality is,” Dial said, “that if we tie on to the member city group and the drought demands or increased demands on Texarkana happens, the last one on the system would be the first one off. And the uncertainty is just not acceptable.”
Dial said that other options include a new reservoir near Clarksville, or new wells, which would also necessitate the construction of a reverse osmosis plant to make the brackish water from the local aquifer usable.
“We do not consider the only option the Region D board left to us in the state plan as the best option. We ask you extend all options,” Dial said.
Region D Board member Mike McCoy said Clarksville could implement any of the described options.
“We can’t get funding from the state with none of those options in the plan, so those options are closed,” Dial said.
Region D Board member David Nabors told Dial, “Sell bonds like everybody else does.”
“I can’t make payroll every month, much less do a debt service,” Dial said.
Clarksville Mayor Ann Rushing echoed Dial’s points.
“Time is not on our side, Rushing said. “Allow us to consider new reservoirs, new wells, possible connections to Texarkana or Paris water systems. We are frustrated and truly angry that once more the planning group is proceeding on a plan that does not meet our needs. We cannot use the Texas Water Development Board funds to develop alternatives that are not listed in the plan, even though it is more prudent for our area.”
The public has 28 more days to provide comments on the current draft of the regional water plan to: Northeast Texas Municipal Water District, P.O. Box 955, Hughes Springs, Texas 75656; email: netmwd@aol.com ; phone: 903-639-7538 and fax: 903-639-2208.
