Published: June 03, 2006 05:08 pm            

Reservoir leaves Cherokee County hanging dry

When I moved here earlier this month I knew nothing of the reservoir/refuge debate. I was unfamiliar with the Fastrill Reservoir proposal. I hadn’t even heard of the Texas State Railroad. And it positively boggled my mind that Cherokee County could be in the same district as Dallas. At first, the idea of the reservoir didn’t seem so bad; lots of fishing, boating, and waterfront property. It seemed to me that a lake can be as beautiful as a forest can, and we get to help the nice people of Dallas to boot.

I started my research in a mindset of objective ambivalence. I would tell both sides of the story and let the readers decide for themselves what to believe. But it soon became glaringly obvious to me that objective ambivalence wasn’t going to cut it in this case — forcing a reservoir on the people of Anderson and Cherokee Counties and then taking 80 percent of the water rights is wrong. Taking the family lands of Cherokee County farmers so that the city folk of Dallas don’t have to be inconvenienced to conserve water is just wrong. The people of Dallas are not more important than you and me. One does not need to be ambivalent to be objective.

Objectivity is about dealing with facts without letting personal feelings or prejudices interfere, and I, as a new member of the Jacksonville community, have the unique opportunity to look at the Fastrill proposal for what it is. I never swam in the Neches River as a child and it holds no nostalgia for me. I have never camped in the disputed area; personally preferring hardwood floors to hardwood forests. But neither do I harbor any irrational devotion to Dallas. And yet, despite my emotional neutrality, one side of this situation seems forced, while the other seems like a perfect fit.

The refuge will help preserve the unique East Texas environment; the reservoir will drown that same environment in the name of convenience. The reservoir will forcibly take land from landowners; the refuge will allow private property to remain private. Fastrill Reservoir will POSSIBLY be compatible with the Texas State Railroad IF a very costly bridge is built for a cost ineffective train to run on; the Neches River National Wildlife Refuge is compatible with the TSRR right now. After really looking at the situation, it’s hard to believe the Fastrill Reservoir is still receiving serious consideration. It’s time Dallas stopped flooding all of East Texas and learned how to responsibly handle the water they do have.

The pending feasibility report has the potential to stop the reservoir in its tracks, but don’t count on that happening. The feasibility report is being funded by the City of Dallas. Don’t be too surprised if the City of Dallas decides that the needs of the people of Dallas are more important than the needs of the people of Jacksonville. It seems unlikely to me that environmental concerns and economic impact here will be enough to change Dallas’ mind. However, citizens in a representative democracy can exercise extreme power by contacting their politicians en masse. The best way for a politician to stay in office is to keep us happy, and thousands of constituents saying, “The reservoir will make me unhappy,” tends to perk up a wise politician’s ears.

Fortunately, Cherokee County seems to be making its opinions known. The Friends of the Neches River now have over 6,000 signatures of citizens who stand in opposition of the reservoir (two of which are myself and my wife). In one day alone, at last weekend’s Fair on the Square, 1,269 new people signed on in support of the Neches River National Wildlife Refuge. Trying to find someone in the area who will admit to being pro-reservoir is quite difficult these days. As one would assume, politicians’ opinions on the topic have seemingly changed at the same time, in the same direction, as the prevailing public opinion. The pro-refuge movement is gaining powerful friends and is on the border of flooding the reservoir’s hopes once and for all, but it is not there yet.

By now, all the important people know that an opposition to the reservoir exists; now is the time for an outpouring of support to let those people know just how thorough that opposition is. Contact the Friends of the Neches River to learn how you can do your part to sink the Fastrill Reservoir proposal.

        

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