Dallas wants alternate refuge site
Texas Conservation Alliance rejects proposals, Dallas attorney addresses 'water stealing'
BY LELAND ACKER

The City of Dallas and the Upper Neches River Municipal Water Authority (UNRMWA) have identified two alternative sites for a wildlife refuge, said Chris Bowers with the Dallas city attorney's office.

"We, along with the UNRMWA, hired HDR Engineering," Mr. Bowers said. "They have performed a study, which is pretty lengthy, that illustrates that there are better locations for a wildlife refuge."

Mr. Bowers said the two locations are south of the proposed Fastrill Reservoir site and by adopting one of the alternative sites, the refuge could be created and the Fastrill Reservoir could be built.

"If the goal of the U.S. Fish and Wildife Service (USFWS) is to preserve bottomland hardwoods, there are two better sites to the south," he said. "The city views this situation as a potential win-win scenario. We are willing to work with USFWS to accomplish their goal."

Janice Bezanson, executive director for the Texas Conservation Alliance, which opposes the construction of the Fastrill Reservoir, said the study is suspect.

"The City of Dallas commissioned the study by HDR Engineering Inc. in a self-serving effort to overturn the USFWS's 2006 decision to create the refuge," Ms. Bezanson said.

A press release issued from the Texas Conservation Alliance on Dec. 26 calls the study by HDR Engineering "one-sided."

The release goes on to say the USFWS had already studied the two alternative sites proposed by the City of Dallas.

Mr. Bowers said the data studied by USFWS on the two alternative sites was out-dated. Dr. Michael Banks, co-chair of the Friends of the Neches River, said "The study commissioned by the City of Dallas and UNRMWA is not a legitimate study.

"It is a trumped up deal by people who want to build the Fastrill Reservoir," he said.

Ms. Bezanson said the criteria used by USFWS for selecting the location of the refuge site were: quality of habitat, availability of large tracts of land from willing sellers and the presence or absence of a conflicting use of the land.

Dr. Banks said the refuge stands in the way of the construction of the Fastrill Reservoir.

'The wildlife refuge has already been created," he said. "For that to be undone, the judge will have to rule against it."

Mr. Bowers said the motions for summary judgment in the lawsuit filed by Dallas against USFWS are due in April. Due to the length of the motions, Mr. Bowers said he thinks it will take the judge some time to issue a ruling.

Dr. Banks said if the judge rules against the refuge, the USFWS could go back and complete the steps he ruled were not properly conducted and re-establish the wildlife refuge. The only other way to rescind the establishment of a wildlife refuge requires an act of Congress, literally. Dr. Banks was quoted in the Dec. 21 issue of the Dallas Morning News as saying, "People are aware that Dallas wants to come take our water and destroy our natural resources." He said that quote was not his exact words.

"It should have read, 'Dallas wants to take the water from the Neches river and destroy the wildlife refuge,'" Dr. Banks said.

Mr. Bowers addressed the accusation that the City of Dallas was "stealing water."

"Stealing implies we're taking something without paying," he said. "If we're building a lake, we're paying for the land and complying with other laws. It's unfair to characterize that as theft. The city's goal is to build a lake. We're the city to accomplish that. If other cities in the area want some of the water, we'd be interested in talking to them."

Mr. Bowers then pointed to Lake Fork and Lake Tawakoni as historical precedents for how Dallas builds lakes.

"When the city develops lakes outside of the Metroplex, it works with a local partner and some water is set aside for local use. With (Lakes Fork and Tawakoni), Dallas paid a great deal toward building the lake and the local communities did not have to pay their fair share of the land acquisition and dam building costs," he said, adding that Lake Palestine is an example of a Dallas-built lake with water set aside for local use.

"Secondly, water belongs to the state of Texas by state law. It's not the people of Rusk's water or Dallas' water," he said. "We recognize that we need to share. With (Lakes Fork, Tawakoni and Palestine), the local community has enjoyed economic benefit from the lake."

"Whenever they say water will be available, that means we have to buy it," Dr. Banks said. "As far as economic development, (the construction of the reservoir) would take 35,000 acres off of the tax rolls. Then, the county would have to provide more services to the area."

Dr. Banks said there is no guarantee that economic development would result from the construction of the Fastrill Reservoir.

"We're getting saturated with lakes," he said. "It took 40 years for Eagle's Bluff (on Lake Palestine) to develop. Economic development is not a sure-fire thing."

Both Dr. Banks and Ms. Bezanson said they recognized Dallas' growing need for water, but added that conservation efforts along with alternative water sources could meet the growing need without the construction of an additional reservoir.