Marvin Nichols Reservoir Generates Statewide Opposition

The proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir captured statewide attention in the Texas legislature this session when State Rep. Gary VanDeaver introduced HB 2109 to require that any reservoir that had been in the State Water Plan for more than 50 years be removed from the Plan. What followed was an exceptional hearing before the Texas House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee, resulting in a 12-1 vote in favor of sending the measure to the House floor. After the measure failed to reach the House floor in time to be voted on, Rep. VanDeaver proposed an amendment to another bill that would prevent construction of Marvin Nichols.

The House vote on the amendments was telling – a clear split between urban representatives voting to keep Marvin Nichols in the Plan and rural representatives voting to take it out. While the urban majority prevailed, the amount of attention to the huge impacts the reservoir would have on the people and natural resources of Northeast Texas garnered wide media attention and, for the first time, statewide awareness of the true cost of using eminent domain to condemn vast tracts of land in one region to provide resources for the water-wasteful DFW Metroplex.