Corps’ lake plan should be complete in December

Project examines if, how high Wright Patman could be raised for water storage

A Tentatively Selected Plan to determine if and how high Wright Patman Lake could be raised for additional water storage should be completed in December, according to a representative from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Elston Eckhardt, chief of the Civil Management Branch of the Corps’ Fort Worth District, gave an update on the district’s projects Wednesday during a meeting of the Red River Valley Association, held in Texarkana, Ark.

The Corps originally set a December 2016 deadline for the plan ’s completion, but then met federal funding delays along the way. Those came from the government’s rule, Eckhardt said, under which a project cannot exceed three years and $3 million. The Corps’ original contract with the Sulphur River Basin Authority, the project’s 50/50 in-kind sponsor, was executed Feb. 24, 2005.

Now, 12 years and several contracts later, the project is back on, Eckhardt said.

“It’s been talked about for the past several years, on again off again, and as of several months ago, it’s back on again, which is a good thing,” he said. “Water supply is a big deal around here, and there’s not enough to go around and people will fight for it … people will stand up for their water.”

Stakeholders in the Sulphur River Basin have long questioned SRBA’s funding. Although it is a legislatively-created entity, it is funded by the Joint Commission for Project Development, comprising the cities of Dallas and Irving, North Texas Municipal Water District, Tarrant Regional and the Upper Trinity Water District. The Metroplex is seeking water for its projected population growth, and Eckhardt said East Texas may be the only place they can find it.

“What we do know about the Sulphur River Basin is that there is potential for water supply,” he said. “In fact, it’s one of the only areas in Texas that there’s a potential for an additional water supply. Most of that need is in the Dallas Metroplex.”

The plan will determine, among other things, water storage fees and Wright Patman’s

ultimate rule curve, which is 228.64 feet. Currently the lake operates under an interim curve, put in place in 1969, which provides a contractual obligation to the City of Texarkana, Texas, for 220 feet of water. Eckhardt said the lake’s current yield is less than 35,000 acre feet. He added it was likely the study would recommend increasing the lake level to 235 feet, which would yield 50,000 acre feet of water.

“We would need congressional authorization to get the amount of water out of it that we’re expecting,” Eckhardt said. “And finally, reallocation of Wright Patman is not the total solution. Even with reallocation, there would still be continued for need for water for the citizens of Dallas.”

That water could potentially come from the construction of the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir. SRBA-funded studies indicate a potentially lower amount of water in the lake than previous studies have shown. Another study showed a combination of reallocation and the construction of Marvin Nichols to provide the water needed by the Dallas Metroplex. Those studies were hotly contested by stakeholders, including Riverbend Water Resources District, the City of Texarkana, Texas, and Ward Timber.

In January, the river authority chose to pay RPS Espey and the Sulphur Basin Group to complete the work, but SRBA did not vote to accept the studies.

The studies are available at srbatx.org.