On Monday, 28 May 2007, the Texas House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 3, which was the comprehensive statewide water plan proposed by the Texas Water Development Board. CLICK HERE for more information, and this is a long essay. Senator Kevin Eltife of Tyler was able to get through an amendment to SB 3, providing for an independent study commission to explore the feasibility of constructing the Marvin Nichols Reservoir in comparison with alternative sources of water, such as Lake Texoma and Toledo Bend Reservoir. Members of this commission will consist of 3 people from both Region C and Region D Water Planning Groups. These members will be appointed later this year. They have to report back to the Governor and the Legislature in time for the 2011 legislative session. Thus, we are "stalled" for about 4 years toward any final decision as to whether to proceed with construction of Marvin Nichols. So unless there is some major unforeseen development regarding Marvin Nichols, this website will probably remain exactly as it is for quite some time into the future. As you can see below, I have not updated it since May 2005. Except for this notice and the information referenced above, I am not planning to modify anything else, leaving it as it was when I wrote the 2005 Update that follows.

IMPORTANT NOTICE! When I first created this website in 2002, my email addresses were different. When you click to Email Me at the bottom of any of these pages, your inquiry will fail because those routing addresses are no longer valid. It would be simply too time-consuming to go through every page at this website and correct these addresses. However, at the bottom of this main Weldome Page, you'll see a place where you can email me if there is a problem with the site or if you have an inquiry. This address is correct and current. So, if you are reading at some page and need to inquire about it, return to this main page and send your email from here only. My apology for this inconvenience. Thanks. Roberto

We can all finally breathe a sigh of relief. On 18 May 2005 the Region D Water Planning Group voted for their latest five-year water plan, which will be submitted to the Texas Water Development Board late in the year. This new water plan deliberately does not include a recommendation for the construction of the Marvin Nichols or George Parkhouse Reservoirs. This was a temporary victory in 2002, but a complete victory in 2005. It will be next to impossible ever to resurrect the ideas of constructing the Marvin Nichols and George Parkhouse Reservoirs. However, a formal "public discussion" of the water plan is scheduled for 7 PM on Tuesday, 2 August 2005, at the Upshur County Civic Center in Gilmer (nextdoor to Wal-Mart on Hwy. 271 North). You are urged to attend and express your opinion. Following that, there will be an additional 60-day period for public mail to arrive on the plan, and the final vote will probably be taken at the regular Region D meeting on the third Wednesday in October 2005 at the Agricultural Extension Office in Mount Pleasant (on Industrial Road near Interstate 30).

This website will remain as an archive of past events. As I have noted at the end of the 2004 Archive, I am working on books. Thus, my time is limited; and I do not plan to update this website with future information beyond today, unless something terribly unexpected happens. There is a newer website with more current information. It is http://www.stopmarvinnichols.com/ and is the work of Janice Bezanson, Executive Director of the Texas Committee On Natural Resources. Click here to email Janice.

Also it must be noted here that the former SeRBiA President Judy Lee of Mount Pleasant has been replaced by a woman named Pat Wommack from Lone Star. Richard Goodman was reappointed to the board. Executive Director Mike Burke's contract comes up for renewal in August, and he may not be rehired. Time will tell, but Mike Burke, like Judy Lee, is a leftover relic of the Mike Huddleston/Bill Ratliff period of undying support for these reservoirs. Guaranty Bond Bank President Ty Abston of Mount Pleasant appeared before the SRBA Monthly Meeting on 17 May 2005, when Jim Thompson was elected President to replace Judy Lee. Ty "Hit & Run" Abston's pleas for destroying timberlands in favor of needless reservoirs fell on deaf ears. It was the lake-promoters' "last gasp", so to speak.

Max Shumake of De Kalb, Texas, who is the de facto leader of our opposition group, would certainly join me in thanking all of you for your time and help over the past four years. We seem to have succeeded against all odds. And I must agree with Region D board-member Richard LeTourneau when he said that countless people have spent thousands of hours of their time in opposition to these reservoirs, and now "it is time to move on". Hear, Hear! Yes indeed, it is time to move on!

If any of the internal links fail to work after all this time, then they are probably gone forever. However, there is enough information at this website alone to preserve the early flow of these events. I shall not modify or edit any of my previous comments. As George Frost stated at the recent Region D meeting, Marvin Nichols used to be an emotional issue, but now we have all had time to look at it objectively. So any "emotions" in my comments will simply reflect the frustration or elation of the event itself. None of us might necessarily still be so "emotional" about some of these issues. The remainder of this website is its original archive.

At the 2 December 2002 meeting of the Northeast Texas Region D Water Planning Group in Mount Pleasant, by a unanimous decision the water board voted to amend the Texas Water Plan, which was, in effect, a vote to kill the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir.

There are still lake supporters who would say that merely because the Texas Water Plan was amended to "downgrade" Marvin Nichols does not "necessarily" mean that the reservoir won't be built, that DFW Region C is threatening to build it anyway, no matter what our prevailing local public opinion may be. All I can say to that is this: just try it! There was no "opposition movement" to Marvin Nichols before New Boston educator Dr. Jane Morris happened by chance to attend the SeRBiA meeting in Mount Vernon on 19 June 2001 (see below). Although it seems like an eternity in retrospect, this entire lake issue came to a climax within less than 18 months after that "fateful" Mount Vernon meeting. Mainly due to the tireless efforts of Max Shumake, Shirley Shumake and Oran Caudle, organizing one small community after another, month after endless month, the local opposition grew from a handful of people in June 2001 to literally hundreds of people from all walks of life by December 2002. Nonetheless, we should remain ever vigilant in monitoring the activities of the various water boards. And they should be put on notice that any attempt to resurrect this Marvin Nichols Reservoir, or any other companion reservoir, will be met immediately by the rejuvenated full force of this opposition. If necessary, via our electronic database compiled over many months, we could notify and re-assemble a veritable "battalion" of opposition forces overnight.

CLICK HERE for news reports of the December 4 meeting.

Now that all of the latest news has been uploaded, this part of the website will become a sort of dormant archive of the events of 2001 and 2002. For news in 2003-2004, please click here. Regards, Roberto