Worst bill in the Texas Legislature must be stopped
JANICE BEZANSON Austin
Last week state Sen. Kip Averitt (R-Waco) introduced Senate Bill 675, to designate 19 sites in Texas as "unique reservoir sites." We need a huge outpouring of opposition to this bad bill.

Included in the bill are Lakes Fastrill, Marvin Nichols, Lower Bois d'Arc and Ralph Hall Lake - the four unneeded reservoirs wanted by the DFW-North Texas water providers. These and other reservoir projects will have a huge effect on the lives of Texans, particularly East Texans where so many of the projects are located.

Legally speaking, the designation of an area as a unique reservoir site means that no state or local government entity can do anything on that site that would preclude its future use for constructing a reservoir.

What the "unique reservoir site" designation would mean in reality: the designation is a restriction of private property rights.

Many landowners and realtors have stated that having this designation will make land harder to sell, thus causing the price to go down.

Even for landowners not wishing to sell, the impacts will be felt immediately. While the bill doesn't technically restrict what private owners can do, it impacts economic decisions such as whether to invest in improvements (barns, etc) on the land, whether to plant long-standing crops such as trees (a major consideration since so many of the projects are in East Texas)

The designation will also make it more likely that a reservoir will be built on the site, whether it is needed or not.

There is no way that the state is going to need 19 reservoirs in the foreseeable future.The state water plan identifies other water sources adequate to meet the needs of DFWNorth Texas without building any of the four proposed for that area.

The same is true of many of the other projects. Any reservoir that is actually needed will get built.

This bill is to encourage boondoggles for the benefit of individuals and companies that make hundreds of millions of dollars off of dam construction, land speculation and use of public money for expensive public-works projects.

Furthermore, the designation will introduce a cloud of uncertainty into the lives of landowners and area residents.

Not only will the designation lower property values, it will affect people's personal lives. Questions arise: Should we build a house on land that might be condemned? Will we be able to leave our land to our children so they can farm or ranch as they've always planned? Will I have to find a new source of livelihood after I'm past the age of re-training? Where will we go if we lose our land?

SB 675 is a bad, bad bill and we need to stop it.

The most important thing that concerned citizens can do is contact your state senator and urge him or her to oppose it.

Encourage all your friends, relatives, colleagues and pass- ing strangers to contact their state senators to ask them to oppose SB 675.

Organize small groups of constituents to go and meet with your state senator and with other state senators throughout your region.

Contact any private landowner groups with which you are associated - Texas Farm Bureau, NRA, farm credit associations - and alert them to the impacts of this bill.

Circulate this information to conservation groups, nature clubs, civic groups and any group you are in contact with.

Systematically contact all East Texas senators and tell them that the urban areas are stripping the East Texas region of its resources. Urge them to protect East Texas by opposing SB 675.

Ms. Bezanson is the executive director of the Texas Committee on Natural Resources. More information is available at www.tconr.org.