Conservation groups urge alternatives to environmentally harmful reservoir project

Environment Texas joined the Texas Conservation Alliance and 16 other conservation groups and leaders in calling on the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) to consider conservation and reuse water solutions as an alternative to building the environmentally harmful Marvin Nichols Reservoir in northeast Texas. 

The proposed reservoir, which would primarily supply water to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, would flood 66,000 acres in northeast Texas, destroying wildlife habitat, wetlands, and the increasingly rare bottomland forest. 

There is very little remaining bottomland hardwood forest in Texas, and this important ecosystem has been identified as Priority 1 for U.S. Fish and Wildlife protection. Two-thirds of the proposed reservoir would flood bottomland hardwood or wetland forests, crucial habitat for an abundance of wildlife. Entire communities and wildlife systems will be harmed by the construction of this reservoir. 

TWDB is currently conducting a feasibility study for the proposed reservoir.