The North East Texas Regional Planning Group [on Wednesday, 16 April 2003, at the Mount Pleasant Agricultural Extension Office] discussed expiring terms of eight committee members and approved a change in the group's bylaws pertaining to interests represented by members. Eight positions of the 23 members of the water planning group are up for re-election, in which the term will begin in September.
They include: Billy Adams of Cass County for agriculture, Alton Dockery of Lamar County for water districts, John Durgin of Van Zandt County for counties, Mike Huddleston of Bowie County for river authority, Gary Jackson of Smith County for river authority, William Justiss of Lamar County for agriculture, Larry Olson of Hunt County for municipalities and Beth Wisenbaker of Hopkins County for small business.
The group's administrator, Walt Sears, Jr., put out a notice specifying that the group is accepting nominations for the eight positions. The notice states that state law and the bylaws of the NETRWPG require diversity in the membership of the NETRWPG. It states that each of the 19 counties must be represented as well as appropriate representation from the following interests groups: agriculture, river authorities, water districts, counties, industries, public and electric generation utilities.
The notice also states that due to existing overlap, one member could be selected from any recognized interest group. Section 16.053 of the Texas Water Code lists the required interest groups and the requirement that the regional planning groups maintain adequate representation from those interests.
Other members of the committee include: Steve Dean of Upshur County for industries, William Rice of Gregg County for public, Richard LeTourneau of Harrison County for environmental, Tony Williams of Harrison County for municipalities, L.D. Williamson of Red River County for counties, Terry Winn, Jr., of Upshur County for water utilities, Eldon Wood of Franklin County for water districts, Barry Boswell of Titus County for electric generation utilities, John Bradley of Marion County for agriculture, Gerald Brewer of Wood and Upshur Counties for water utilities, Larry O. Calvin of Delta County for environmental, Maxie Chester of Rains County for municipalities, C.W. Forsyth, Jr., of Morris County for small business, David Parsons of Wood County for river authority and Vernon Rowe of Camp County for small business.
Also in the meeting, several of the group's consultants gave out figures from the state's initial water plan. According to the consultants, the numbers are from the year 2000 and were calculated by dividing the water usage by the population. Water usage numbers of gallons per capita were issued to each town in the region. The figures were criticized by many members of the committee because of numerous reasons.
Lack of planning for growth and inaccurate data were some of the criticism the figures received. The consultants said the numbers were only initial and stressed the importance for the committee members to make sure their area turned in the proper figures so that a better calculation could be made by the state.
Other items covered in the meeting included:
* approved minutes from the Feb. 15 meeting
* listened to the financial report by the administrator
* discussed pending legislation and potential state budget shortfalls.
"We don't know what the impact of the budget will be, but every state agency has been asked to cut back," Sears said. "This will impact what our budget will be for this year and the next two years."
MOUNT PLEASANT -- Regional water planners learned Wednesday the state's budget crisis could mean a $200,000 cut in 19 Northeast Texas counties.
The Region D Water Planning Group agreed it will have to prioritize needs within its four river basins, administrator Walt Sears reported. He said early estimates indicate a 20 percent cut to water planning statewide. Planners will know the urgency for priorities after the 78th Legislature adjourns in June, Sears said.
"That discussion has not occurred, and it won't until we know exactly what the [state] reduction is," he said. Sears also said the group agreed to set a minimum daily water use goal of 115 gallons per person. "So for water planning, every community will have at least that much that we will plan for."
The planning group is one of 16 regional panels established in 1997 to map water needs for the state through 2050. Region D is comprised of the southern Red River Basin, all of the Big Cypress Creek and Sabine River basins and the northern Sulphur River Basin.
Sears also said budget shortfalls in Austin, where lawmakers are grappling with a $10 billion deficit for the next 2.5 years, are giving water conservation methods greater weight in plans. Bills to discourage wasting water are moving through the legislature, he said.
The Region D group agreed last year to downgrade the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir in Red River County from "recommended" to "potential". The Texas Master Water Plan, which is a compilation of all 16 regional plans, still includes Marvin Nichols as a preferred site for Dallas-based Region C water planners. Sears said the fight over whether that lake gets built will be waged in the Texas Water Development Board, which produces the state plan from regional recommendations. The state plan is not due for its five-year revision for at least two more years.
"It will be at least one more legislative session before the revisions come out," Sears said. "If asked, I would say that water conservation is the important water topic in this session, to the extent they have time to deal with it."