Lavaca-Navidad River Authority to study dam, reservoir feasibility
Lavaca-Navidad River Authority to study dam, reservoir feasibility
LNRA Board member Paul Littlefield looks over a section of the Lavaca River south of Edna near County Road 312. An LNRA environmental study of the river and its potential to serve water needs in the area will be looked at.
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EDNA - Many Jackson County residents fear a new study by the Lavaca-Navidad River Authority will spell the end of life as they know it.
"The day y'all have to take those places I hope y'all give enough money for funerals, too," said Timmy Jacob at a Wednesday river authority meeting.
Jacob's family has owned property in Jackson County for generations and he fears losing his land if a dam is built to meet increased water demand in the area.
The construction of Palmetto Bend Reservoir - Stage II project is one of two options the river authority authorized to examine in a feasibility study in January. The goal is to learn what kind of a reservoir - a dam-created reservoir or an off-site reservoir - would be economically and environmentally feasible, and still benefit the county and river authority customers.
The study is proposed to cost about $310,000 and take about three months to complete. One proposal from the 2008 Texas Water Development Board Reservoir Site Protection Study positions the on-site reservoir just southeast of Edna, but no location is yet final.
Formosa Plastics indicated that by 2015 it will need an additional 10,000 acre-feet of water, said Patrick Brzozowski, the river authority's general manager. Formosa is the river authority's biggest customer. Its need, combined with the push of a 2007 senate bill urging the river authority to develop water for the region, makes the situation more pressing.
"It's time to look at it," Brzozowski said. "They've asked for water. We don't have any additional supplies."
Increased water demand from customers and pressure from the state to develop water by 2015 spurred the need for a new supply, he said.
"It's ironic that these two things occur at the same time," Brzozowski said.
Many residents, however, worry that building a reservoir could drain the county of needed water.
"I'm still hung up on the fact that there's bound to be other options to keep it in the county," said Michael Blackwell, who also owns property near the river. "How can the county benefit enough to justify it?"
Dr. Mac Lee, an Edna-based dentist, feels so passionate about the subject he created a Facebook group that now boasts more than 1,000 fans who urge others to oppose damming the river.
"Do you think it is ethical and morally correct for a publicity-traded, privately-owned corporation or a municipality just to be able to take our water just because they want it?" he said.
It is not yet known who will fund the study. According to river authority policy, funding for the study could come from a customer, the river authority or by a joint agreement.
Brzozowski insists the river authority has the best interests of the county in mind.
"The dilemma is how do we go about developing water for the region, for our area, and still derive the benefit here in Jackson County," he said. "That's the questions we ask ourselves everyday."
Residents remain concerned that continuing the study by default suggests that dam will be built. Paul Littlefield, president of the river authority board of directors, disagrees.
"Knowledge is power," he said, referencing the study. "I am against building another larger reservoir mostly because of the cost and the amount of water we might get from it might not be enough to pay for it."
The river authority's board of directors listened Wednesday to comments on a range of issues from the engineering group Freese and Nichols. Those issues will be studied for both the Palmetto Bend Reservoir Stage II and the off-site reservoir.
The study will answer questions about:
The possibility of developing recreational areas near the water supply.
Environmental impacts.
Features and benefits of each.
Some benefits to building the off-site reservoir include the potential it could be built in less time. That plan, however, might not offer the same ability to develop as a recreational site on the river.
The engineer also mentioned the need for detailed topographical work to learn if enough water exists to do an on-channel project or if the soil could hold the water.
Although details remain hazy, Brzozowski and board members agreed neither project is final until after the study is funded and completed.
The board meets again on April 21 to discuss potential means for funding the study.
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The LNRA board of directors meet, Wednesday, April 21 for anyone who is interested and wants to get involved.
April 20, 2010 at 5:48 a.m.Thank you, thank you.
March 23, 2010 at 6:42 a.m." So quit moaning and growning and look to the future instead of looking back to when there were no people here. Living in the past by trying to keep victoria small and not planning for the needs of the next generation by putting everything off till the last minute is just plain stupid."
Holly doesn't get it...you sure spout a lot of data but you don't have a clue. First off the Lavaca River doesn't produce that much water...sure during floods water roars down the river but most of the time there is very little flow. You must not be a property owner that would be impacted by something like this...if you are then shame on you.
March 21, 2010 at 11:47 a.m.it's more like welcome to the desert after S.A ,houston and dallas get done taking all our water for their use. I guess one good thing would come from shipping all that water back up stream is that they will be putting it back into the rivers as treated waste water from their sewer plants. Recycled water that we will be drinking since we get our water out of the river unless we build lakes to supply us with the water we need here.
March 20, 2010 at 5:24 p.m.Well ex, if they build it, it will be another mud pit, like Texana was during the last drought. Let them foreigners drink mud. Welcome to Texas!!!!
March 20, 2010 at 5:05 p.m.I think all yo naysayers have already forgotten the drought last year when all the lakes and rivers nearly dried up. What are we gonna do for water in 10 years from now when houston, san antonio and any other big city in texas get done sucking up all the ground water in this area???? Plus it would also be another source of water that the farmers could tap for watering crops. I can't believe that any one who went threw last summer could be against another lake or 2 in this region. Victoria should be investigating a lake of it's own to keep us supplied with water. We already have all the gravel pits from 59 south to loop 77 on the north west side of town under the city/county ownership with a river running through there to supply it with water. It seems to me that there would be plenty of places to put these lakes. For the right price all land is for sale. Just how much can a farm make off crops if there is no water to irrigate with???? I bet some of those farmers would be happy to sell after losing there butts last year on their crops. But maybe not after all the federal farm subsidies paid out for all those failed crops. We must all remember one thing when all the people from the high taxed states (california and the north east) relocate to texas because there is no state income tax where will all the water come from to meet the growing demand for water in this region of the state. It would be wise to have the lakes in place now instead of waiting like victoria did on the sewer plant. These lakes would also be a supply of cooling water for new power plants that will be needed in the future as well. So quit moaning and growning and look to the future instead of looking back to when there were no people here. Living in the past by trying to keep victoria small and not planning for the needs of the next generation by putting everything off till the last minute is just plain stupid.
March 20, 2010 at 3:49 p.m.Well, Lake Texana did create lots of upriver swamp....er wetlands, or depending on the rainfall per year, a great mud pit.
Wasn't Lake Texana originally built to supply water to the Bay City nuclear plant? I seem to remember that, and excuse me but that didn't make sense either.
March 19, 2010 at 5:14 p.m.Yes, we do need a public forum. Right now there is some very interesting discussions going on.
March 19, 2010 at 4:07 p.m.If you are interested in helping save the Lavaca River, please become a fan of Save The Lavaca River on Facebook. In order to make a difference, there needs to be a united front. There is some interesting information on the discussion page of that FB site.
Kenneth, you can certainly get some attention now. Thanks for calling.
March 18, 2010 at 10:17 p.m.Here are some questions I have for the Victoria Advocate and the LNRA board of directors. Can you tell me what the economic impact of stage one of Lake Texanna has been for Jackson County since it's existence? I mean we know that LNRA seems to have prospered, but has Jackson County prospered? I do not see all of the full hotels, etc that we were led to believe would come into being. Have the powers that be been good stewards of our resources? I certainly do not mind helping others be prosperous but you know one cannot give from empty pockets. We were given the impression that Lake Texanna would bring a lot of prosperity to Jackson County in stage one. It was appealing to a lot of folks. Kind of exciting for the county. I suppose building it brought temporary jobs. But what has been the economic impact of the lake? I would love to know now that we have thirty years or more of history that we can see how it turned out. We can then project how stage two might turn out. I don't think folks are going to fall for the hype on the second stage. Been there done that. I just don't see how it is going to be of an economic benefit to Jackson County. And that is of course just talking about the economic numbers. Now keep in mind that I have not asked any questions of quality of life issues or environmental issues. Those are whole other issues. But they are all tied to stewardship. Are we being good stewards of our resources. Are we taking care of those things that are under our control? That's the story that I would like for the Victoria Advocate to ferret out. I want to know the meaning behind the meaning. Let the light shine on the process. Then perhaps we can all see clearly.
March 18, 2010 at 1:43 p.m.Since when do board members have the power to take away private land and sell its resources for profits for themselves while benifiting entities in other counties?
While the LNRA was "created for the purpose of controlling, storing, preserving, and distributing the storm and flood waters, and the waters of the rivers and streams of Jackson County, and their tributaries, for all useful and beneficial purposes." There are more than a few contridictions there. '..useful and beneficial.." to who? Those in other counties, big businesses" "Perserving?" Well so much for perserving the Lavaca in its natural state.
My Cinquain Poem on the issue.
Lavaca
March 18, 2010 at 11:21 a.m.Endagered Tranquility
Damned for Money
Rage Against the Greed
Persevere
Why a new study? What became of the old EIS re Palmetto Bend II?
March 18, 2010 at 11:09 a.m.Where are the cops, if this isn't organized crime I don't know what it is!!
March 18, 2010 at 10:42 a.m.Here we go again. I guess if they couldn't get our land North of Edna via the Trans Corridor they'll get land South of Edna via a resevoir.
Cities like Corpus and Houston maybe even Victoria should already have in place desalination plants that will turn sea water into drinking water. But I guess it's easier to deplete our fresh water supplies first or take our land to create lakes.
I'd like to see an aerial map of the proposed dam and resevoir.
March 18, 2010 at 7:17 a.m.I smell a rat.
March 18, 2010 at 6:18 a.m.