Fight Against Lake Ringgold Continues

Native tallgrass prairie at Lake Ringgold site

As reported last summer, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) rubber-stamped a state permit approving the proposed Lake Ringgold, despite a strong recommendation to deny the permit by Judge Christiaan Siano, who had conducted the hearing in the case. Since then, TCA and landowners impacted by the proposed reservoir have filed a petition in District Court to overturn the permit. The District Court Judge is waiting on TCEQ to submit the administrative record in the hearing before initiating court proceedings. 

Meanwhile, TCA and other opponents of the reservoir are gearing up for the federal permit process conducted by the US Army Corps of Engineers, which involves drafting of an Environmental Impact Statement. TCA will build on the information from the state permit hearing with additional information from expert witnesses. A report commissioned by TCA, but conducted independently by the engineering firm LRE Water, came to several conclusions concerning Lake Ringgold: proponents have overestimated the yield of the reservoir; an independent review of alternatives is needed, rather than the suspicious ranking of options by the firm that would oversee the project; and the amount of water granted in the permit is dramatically large compared to the projected future demand.