After over a decade of public discussion and commentary, the Texas Water Development Board should be coming to a decision on the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir soon. The public commentary period ends 5 p.m. Friday, May 2. The board is accepting emailed and written comments.
There are also two public meetings on the topic this week. One is 2 p.m. Apr. 29 in Mount Pleasant at the Mount Pleasant Civic Center, 1800 N. Jefferson St. The other meeting will be 2 p.m. Apr. 30 in Arlington at the Bob Duncan Center, 2800 N. Center St. The meetings are being hosted by the regional planning groups of the state water board. The Northeast Texas group (Group D) opposes the project. The North Texas group (Group C) supports the Marvin Nichols Reservoir proposal.
The planning process has been influenced by a lawsuit brought by an East Texas timber company against the Texas Water Development Board. Ward Timber, based in Linden, said that the water board needed to make a decision on the conflict between the two regional planning groups. In May 2013, the Eleventh District Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Ward Timber. The state did not appeal the decision.
