Rain, rain, go away

Everyone knows that never works. 
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram continues to write about the emergency warning sirens.  Thanks to Clyde Picht and Mother Nature, they exist. 

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram also talks about record rainfall today.
Flooding problems were reported in low-crossing areas in Fort Worth, Arlington, Irving Euless and Colleyville, area police reported.

Let's see, a tornado and record rainfall in April.  History repeats?

Usually.

Smell that?

Durango shows you the mess left behind from the sanitary sewer line break at the Tandy Hills.

But, as we all know, we have more important things to worry about spending money on in Fort Worth than the water/sewer infrastructure. Or sidewalks.

The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle and its billion dollar price tag, that's the priority project for this town.

A town in dire need of having a little lake, some canals and an un-needed flood diversion channel to replace flood control levees which have worked fine for longer than half a century.

With all of Fort Worth's water main and sanitary sewer breaks I wonder if the town can lay claim to being the leakiest town in America?

HOW old?

We've asked this question before, finally some answers. 

YOU don't want to hear them, but YOU can't afford not to.

Read about the 119 year old water lines in Fort Worth.  In the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Water pipelines- Age of pipe by decade

Unknown: 296.3 miles

1910: 5.3 miles

1920: 60.1 miles

1930: 25.5 miles

1940: 116.7 miles

1950: 347.5 miles

1960: 265.7 miles

1970: 298.9 miles

1980: 531.5 miles

1990: 454.5 miles

2000: 990.0 miles

Source: Fort Worth Water Department

In fiscal 2010, the most recent year for which data is available, the city had 3,511 miles of water lines and replaced about 20 miles. For wastewater, it had 3,469 miles of sewer lines and replaced about 11 miles.

That's far less than the old goals of replacing 2 percent annually, but officials said those guidelines are unrealistic with the city's rapid growth since the mid-1990s.

In fiscal 2011, $35 million in pipeline contracts were awarded, while $126 million were awarded in fiscal 2010. A number of relocation projects in 2010 were tied to work on Trinity River Vision projects and on Texas 121.

In one of the most extreme cases, the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency went to federal court in August and obtained a consent decree against the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District that requires it to spend an estimated $4.7 billion over 23 years to deal with illegal sewage overflows.

"The risk of not making investment is twofold," Curtis said. "First, you spend a lot more in emergency repairs, and it's quite damaging in water and sewer breaks. And if you put off making improvements because of political or financial pressure, the costs only get higher. It is definitely a case of pay me now or pay me later."

In October, Fort Worth removed a 119-year-old valve from its North Holly water treatment plant that dated to the plant's opening in 1892. The city also inherited 7.71 miles of asbestos concrete when it annexed the Lake Country Estates area on the far west side. Gugliuzza said those pipes pose no threat to water quality as long as they are in the ground, but they could create problems if they are disturbed.

"If we had to replace it, that's when it would pose a concern," Gugliuzza said.

Dallas Fort Worth Media

Please stop reporting on kids being transported at the Stock Show in strollers (duh) and if the Cowboys are still America's team.  Please report on things that affect those you should be serving and things that are going on right under your noses. 

WHAT will the local "news" say when some big city slicker news outfit rolls into town and starts asking WHY no one has reported on these issues?  We can't wait to hear. 

Neither can Durango.

I still have not seen any mention made in the Star-Telegram of the fact that the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's flood control project's first completed project, the Cowtown Wakepark, was severely damaged in the first flood of the Trinity River since its completion.

Of course it's not just our local media making a mockery out of themselves, national media was just put in its place by none other than Miss Piggy.  Here's hoping she also comes to see us in Cowtown soon. 

Anyway, during a news conference last week for the U.K. premiere of "The Muppets," Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy were asked about a December segment on Eric Bolling's "Follow the Money" that posed the question, "Are Liberals Trying to Brainwash Your Kids Against Capitalism?" One guest on the segment blasted the Muppets movie, which makes an oil executive (played by Chris Cooper) its villain.

Piggy said of the segment: "It's almost as laughable as accusing Fox News as, you know, being news."

She's Back

Mary Kelleher has been through Hell and back.

First, a gas drilling company installed a pipeline (without a permit) and her property flooded.  Of course they denied all wrongdoing.

But in an unusual twist for Fort Worth, their flood plain administrator said the pipeline did change the drainage pattern and cause the flooding.

What's Mary up to now?

A huge sinkhole. Due to a 50 year old sewer line collapsing in the storms this week.

We've asked this before - how old are the sewer lines in YOUR neighborhood?  How much run off can they hold?  How much were they built to hold?

You might want to ASK.

Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

People in 2011

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram put out it's 2011 DFW Newsmakers.

We'd like to salute the citizens that ended up on the list.  THE PEOPLE who ended up there by standing up for what they believe in and protecting their neighbors.  A firefighter, a veteran, an urban gas drilling opponent and a man teaching our youth a better way of life.  These real people make a difference in our world.  Kudos to them all.  As for the rest of the list...we applaud Wendy Davis for again, standing up for THE PEOPLE.  Too bad there aren't more like her.

The meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service, Bill Bunting, also made the list.  His "standard line" on North Texas weather - 

"Episodes of drought punctuated by periods of catastrophic flooding."

Wonder WHO and what 2012 will bring...

WHO controls YOUR water?

It's a tricky question.  For a reason.  There are many water districts in Texas.  Nine times out of ten, they are above the law, as in they don't have to follow any.

There's been a lot of talk about the Tarrant Regional Water District lately, but it hasn't been due to water.  It's all been about the J.D. Granger and Tim Love Woodshed restaurant sweetheart deal on the Trinity River. A million dollar (give or take a few, again, it's just YOUR money) deal.  Don't you wish YOU could go into business for with no start up cost and if it bombs, you lose nothing?  YOU bet you do, cause you've already lost another million.  And counting.  It's a small price to pay for the billion dollar boondoggle known as the Trinity River Vision. 

The TRWD and the Trinity River Vision Authority, under the leadership of JD Granger, Congresswoman Kay Granger's son, heavily promoted Tubing on Trinity or Rocking on the River this summer to the citizens and taxpayers of Tarrant County.  WHY didn't they test the water?  WHY did the citizens have to pay to have it tested?

The project was touted as flood control, so it would receive federal money.  YOU hear that rest of the country?  YOU'RE paying for this too, so there.  We have to ask again, what does a BBQ shack on the river, a wakeboard park and bridges over dry land do for flood control?  YOU should ask.  After all YOU paid for it.

The TRWD should be reaching out to real water planners of the world and getting their act together before Fort Worth runs out of water.  Instead their reaching out and suing our neighbor, Oklahoma for their water.  The same state those gas drillers using all our water hail from. The same fellas that made our water district rich. Hey, here's a thought, why don't you make them bring their own water and take their waste back with them?  Ever wondered why many drill sites are close to the river and the tributaries? Remember, it flows both ways. Water, too.

If all that weren't enough, then there's fracing.  Even if you don't believe it could ever possibly happen, let's just say, what IF just ONE time it does? Remember the coast? What IF the Trinity aquifer is contaminated?  How do YOU fix it?  What happens then?  WHO is responsible?

If all that isn't enough, we came across the article below.  Which brings us back to the original question, WHO controls YOUR water?

I am in Parker County at a hearing where Range Resources has filed a plea to jurisdiction in the water contamination case where EPA had to step in. If the judge grants this motion, it means the Texas Railroad Commission is the final authority in fracking water contamination cases. It means you can’t sue for damages if the Big Gas Mafia fracks up your water. It would be a disaster for all Texas water drinkers. 

Read the rest here. 

WHO runs this town?

On I-35, TXDOT doesn't want to move Chesapeake drilling operations, so due to their poor planning, a church, private property owners and the Oakhurst neighborhood will have to pay.

On 820, due to Iron Horse Golf course, there are some frontage road concerns.  There doesn't seem to be many across the freeway where part of the part was taken for the freeway and a pipeline.

Coincidence?

Is it also a coincidence that this park and golf course are submerged under water during heavy rains?  What will come of our new freeway then?

How much does fuzzy math cost YOU?

Same story, different state.

An industry "study" includes made up job numbers.  Shocking!  Not.  What is shocking is a reporter actually got to the bottom of it.

Read about the Washington Post Keystone Pipeline bust here.

What is shocking is that we can somehow figure out how to run a dangerous pipeline across our great nation, but we can't figure out how to pipe water from the states that are flooding to those in a drought...huh.  How many jobs would that create?

In an explosive story posted online in the Washington Post this afternoon, pipeline company TransCanada admitted that it has grossly misrepresented the number of jobs the controversial Keystone XL project would create.

The 20,000 jobs involved in pipeline construction? A fabrication supported by misleading mathematics. The 250,000 indirect jobs? A number based on one oil-industry funded study that counted jobs for “dancers, choreographers and speech therapists,” according to the Post.

“Thank heavens some reporter actually questioned this jobs number, instead of just repeating it,” said Bill McKibben, who is leading a major protest against Keystone XL this Sunday at the White House. 

In fact, in the only jobs study not funded by TransCanada, the Cornell Global Labor Institute concluded that any jobs stemming from the pipeline’s construction were likely be outweighed by the environmental damage it caused, along with a possible rise in Midwest gasoline prices because a new pipeline would divert that region’s current oversupply of oil to the Gulf Coast.

Death or taxes?

Jeers in the Fort Worth Star Telegram:

To U.S. Reps. Joe Barton and Kay Granger, who are fighting the EPA on regulations that would curb mercury and other toxic pollutants being emitted from power plants and cement kilns. They profess that any increased regulation would kill jobs, apparently not caring that those same toxins can kill people.

-- Sharon Austry, Fort Worth

Another flood "study"...

This one in Arlington concerning Rush Creek Watershed.

Once it's completed FEMA and the Corp will get involved.  YOU know what that means.  Cha-ching.

Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  Then watch the Arlington flooding that happened Wednesday, though no one is sure the cause for the water main break.  Those living near the waste water plant have been flooded many times in the past several years.  Maybe they should study that, too.  Check it out on Fox 4 news.  What all runs downhill?

In September 2010, Tropical Storm Hermine sent several feet of floodwater raging through dozens of west Arlington homes and the Willows at Shady Valley condos. The city, saying that no amount of dredging would stop Rush Creek from flooding, bought 48 of the affected homes and the condominium complex as part of a $16 million program to address chronic flooding.

During Tuesday's City Council meeting, interim Public Works and Transportation Director Keith Melton outlined a planned Rush Creek watershed study that aims to identify its true 100-year flood plain, which hasn't been updated since the 1970s.

Many of the homes in the Shady Valley area were built before those flood maps were adopted. Over the years, development upstream has increased storm-water runoff flowing into the creek and through the downstream neighborhoods, causing millions of dollars in flood damage.

Arlington wants to determine how high Rush Creek storm water could rise once the watershed is fully developed. Rush Creek, which encompasses about one-third of the city, is the largest of the city's nine watersheds and has the most undeveloped land within it, Melton said.

The study, set to be presented to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers in 2013, will help the city identify possible drainage and storm-water-retention projects to protect structures, interim City Manager Bob Byrd said. The studies could help FEMA determine a new 100-year Rush Creek basin flood plain, which could affect homeowners' flood insurance premiums.

________________________________________________

Some Arlington homeowners said they were shocked and completely helpless when a water treatment plant mishap sent water rushing through their homes.

“I’m a realtor and was working at my computer and happened to look out the door and saw water coming 90 miles an hour down the hill,” said Carol Cash.

She said this is not the first time water from the plant has flooded their home. And her family has been trying to negotiate a settlement deal with the city.

Meanwhile, back on the ranch

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram sticks with the usual spin. 

Don't worry, your local "news" knows "what's good for you". Remember, THEY also tell you WHO to vote for.  How's all that working out for ya?

And how has this worked out in the past?

WHY would a local politician and backers "scratch and claw" for this project?

That "local government money" they talk about, where do YOU think they get that?

The federal government may be in a world of hurt, but not the Trinity River Vision.

That was the message last week, when Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, called a news conference to announce that $15 million in federal money had been secured for the river project.

Given that the TRV is estimated to cost $910 million and take at least 10 more years to complete, it hardly seems newsworthy that officials locked up 1.6 percent of the budget. Except that these days, every federal dollar is precious, and Granger's TRV coalition served notice that it'll scratch and claw to keep the Fort Worth project on track.

Maybe its best argument is that local government is paying more of the early costs rather than relying exclusively on Uncle Sam. Through August, local sources had contributed $83 million toward the project, while the federal allocation was almost $44 million, not including the latest $15 million pledge.

Despite some Republicans calling for an end to earmarks, Granger believes that this cost sharing will keep the TRV on course.

"The projects that can't come up with their local funds are the ones that are really going to slow down," Granger said. "That's one reason ours goes to the top of the list."

Fortunately, this ambitious idea took root in 2001. Back then, most people still believed that government could do great things, such as moving a river and reviving a distressed area about the size of the central business district.

But such progress gets overshadowed by the infighting in Washington, where earmarks -- money OK'd by Congress for specific projects advocated by members -- have been attacked as wasteful spending. That broad brush discredits every infrastructure project in the country, including the good ones. And the TRV is counting on the feds to cover more than half its budget, or nearly $488 million, so Granger has to keep the money flowing.

The Army Corps of Engineers, penciled in to provide the big bucks, isn't expected to start digging the $94 million bypass channel for three years, so a lot could change by then. Officials are already adjusting schedules in the event that Congress reverses course and plows new money into infrastructure jobs; if that happens, several pieces of the TRV will be shovel-ready and eager to compete for funding.

But at the moment and probably until the TRV is finished, there will be fears that federal support will dry up. Granger said she's always asked whether local, state and national leaders are still behind it.

"Our actions speak as loud as our words," Granger said Thursday, proud that local officials had found a way to land more money.

Originally, the Transportation Department was supposed to provide the last piece of funding for two bridges on Henderson and North Main streets. But the transportation bill is bogged down over a House proposal to cut spending by 30 percent, so Granger went to the Regional Transportation Council of the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

That local agency had enough federal money to close the gap. Bridge construction starts next year, and Granger was quick to say that 800 jobs will be created.

If the federal money stopped completely, the TRV would be in serious trouble. The local players -- the Tarrant Regional Water District, Tarrant County and Fort Worth -- have already pledged a combined $102 million.

In a more austere time, when the corps can't do as much, one priority should be to finish projects that are under way. The TRV has already bought property, moved businesses, demolished old buildings and completed some environmental cleanup. Building bridges adds to the list.

Under the worst-case scenario, local governments could increase their contribution, Granger said. And some cities have sold bonds to complete vital projects. She wouldn't suggest how the local share might change, saying any shift wouldn't be necessary until 2014 or beyond.

"It'll be a year-to-year thing" with federal funding, said Vic Henderson, president of the water district. "We may have to slow it down some time, but we'll finish this project."

Officials also discovered that the bypass channel could be about 8 feet shallower than initially projected, which will cut extraction costs by $10 million to $15 million.

Sometimes, the savings benefit the Army Corps' side of the ledger; other times, they lower the costs for local players. Either way, the TRV wins and in the process shows how a ground-breaking project should work.

That's not only good for taxpayers and government. It may be the only way to keep the federal money coming.

More Cheers

Seems some are paying attention, read the Cheer in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Cheers: 

To Layla Caraway, Bob Lukeman and TRIP for winning the Conservation Award at the Glen Rose Film Festival! If you are concerned about out-of-control spending by your government or what's happening with your water, watch Up a Creek. Together, we can make a difference.

-- Debbie L. Sheffield,

Rush Creek - One year later

Read about the flooded Arlington neighborhood in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Stagner lived at the corner of Woodland Park and Woodridge Drive for 41 years until last Sept. 8, when Tropical Storm Hermine sent several feet of floodwaters raging through her neighborhood. Stagner remembers worrying that she and her son and daughter would have to retreat to the attic for safety after the swiftly rising creek burst through her windows and began filling her home chest-deep with muddy brown water.

It will be Stagner's turn to be comforted this month when the wrecking crew comes for her former home. The city bought it and 48 other flood-damaged houses and The Willows at Shady Valley condominiums this year as part of a $16 million program to address chronic flooding along Rush Creek.

City officials have repeatedly said that no amount of dredging will stop the creek from flooding and that tearing down the homes and apartments to create green space to absorb storm-water runoff is the only practical solution.

"I feel very strongly there is nothing we can do to hold that back," Mayor Robert Cluck said. "We have to get people out of harm's way. We have accomplished that to a large extent."

So far, 17 homes have been razed, and 16 others are scheduled to be demolished by early October, city officials said. The 100-unit Willows condos, which the city bought for $4.5 million, are set to be torn down by the end of the year.

Once cleared, the land will be regraded, reseeded and maintained by the city. The new green space will be incorporated into existing parks.

The city issued bonds to pay for the flood-control project, which will be repaid over 20 years using storm-water fees paid by water utility customers.

"It's a very efficient way to make this whole thing work," Cluck said. "Had we not had that, I'm not sure where we would have gotten the money to do it."

"We lost everything but essentially the clothes off our backs," said Lowe, whose family spent three months living in a hotel before buying a new home in south Arlington. "It was very easy to sell [to the city]. We would not have gone through this again for anything."

History Lesson

Read the Letter to the Editor in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

YOU can't afford not to.

Wasting water

Someone once said, "Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink!"

There is an extreme lack of drinking water throughout the world, and we in the U.S. are a wasteful water nation -- homes, lawns, industries, water parks etc. And yes, the Trinity River Vision costing millions that should be spent for water projects 10, 20 and more years coming!

Think ahead not for ourselves but our future children's children!

Not meaning to be biblical, but if the Earth once was destroyed by water could it be destroyed by a lack of water?

-- George J. Anthony, Fort Worth

The Weekly tells you where to go

For the Labor Day Weekend. Take a TRIP out to Glen Rose.

Start Watching - from the Fort Worth Weekly

The Glen Rose Neo-Relix Film Festival has chosen Layla Caraway’s Up A Creek as one of the featured documentaries to be shown on Labor Day weekend.

Production of Up A Creek was sponsored by the Trinity River Improvement Partnership, a collection of local folks with varied political backgrounds who think the Trinity River Vision is just an enormously wasteful economic development project masquerading as flood control — and sucking up all the available local flood-control money along the way. (The price tag is now just over $900 million.)

The experiences that led Caraway to produce the film began in the summer of 2007, when weeks of rain and flooding caused her backyard to fall into Big Fossil Creek. In the same storm, a 4-year-old girl drowned when floodwaters ripped her from her mother’s arms.

Caraway wanted to know why the U.S Army Corps of Engineers couldn’t find money for well-documented flood problems along Big Fossil Creek in Haltom City but had hundreds of millions for the downtown Fort Worth project. Local filmmaker and photographer Bob Lukemon helped make the documentary, which will be screened twice during the Glen Rose festival —on Saturday, Sept. 3, at 2 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 4, at noon. For more information go to http://www.savethetrinityriver.org/.

Flood control scams?

White Settlement has a real flood control problem, one where homes actually flood.  They voted to spend money years ago to correct the problem. 

So, what happened?

Congress and the Corp of Engineers, that's what.  Read the excerpt below from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

In the meantime, the cost of the project, which is funded by White Settlement and the Army Corps of Engineers, has increased. After voters approved the $6 million, Congress placed a moratorium on the $7 million in federal funds that wasn't lifted until 2007 because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. During that time, costs increased and the estimated cost for the project was $16.2 million, but now it is more than $18 million.

One of our sources tells us the same thing happened in Haltom City.  WHERE are the cities supposed to come up with the additional money?  If they call it a vision will that help?  If real flooding problems cost more than estimated, what will happen with the Trinity River Vision estimate?

Congrats to TRIP!

Good example of what THE PEOPLE can do when they come together.  Read the message below from the Trinity River Improvement Partnership. 

Dear Friends of the Trinity River,

TRIP is pleased to announce that our documentary video project, Up A Creek, has been selected by the Neo-Relix Film Festival in Glen Rose, Texas. It will be shown as one of the featured programs at 2:00 Saturday, September 3rd, and at 12:00 Sunday September 4th.

Up A Creek is a story about the real dangers of flooding that exist in the Fort Worth area, and seeks to inform citizens about the misplaced priorities of our elected officials and their plans to spend close to one billion dollars of tax money to benefit the development community.

Our presentation begins with a heartbreaking, true story of flooding, tragedy, and a lack of local governmental foresight and accountability. Local critics of the Trinity River Vision Project then pick up the story and cover a wide-ranging series of topics, from eminent domain abuse to TIF financing districts, legislative manipulation, lack of local media scrutiny, where flood control is actually needed. It addresses the role of the Tarrant Regional Water District and where our local and federal tax dollars are going with this project. The video ends with a call to action, urging voters to educate themselves about the project and help TRIP to offer a more realistic alternative.

TRIP... Our Mission: Support public and civic organizations to achieve maximum balance in preserving property rights, the environment, flood control, and historical considerations, while achieving reasonable development and a clean and adequate water supply.

Please join us. Visit us at www.savethetrinityriver.org

What's more important?

Flooding or recreation?

A program sponspored by the COG and TCEQ.  WHAT could possibly go wrong with that?

A public meeting to discuss the preliminary results of the Recreation Use-Attainability Analysis (RUAA) Study for numerous streams in North Central Texas will be held August 16, 2011. The meeting starts at 1:00 p.m. at the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), Centerpoint II (Tom Vandergriff Conference Center) Regional Forum Room, First Floor. The NCTCOG offices are located at 616 Six Flags Drive, Arlington, Texas 76011.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will be soliciting public comment on a Recreational Use Attainability Analysis Report for a project conducted on streams in the Trinity River basin in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. If you would like to comment on the report or have information on current or past recreation activities occurring on the water body, comments will be accepted until September 9, 2011. The report is located on the TCEQ website at http://www.tceq.texas.gov/waterquality/standards/ruaas/ multitrinity08. Comments can be submitted via email to Joe Martin at Joe.Martin@tceq.texas.gov or mailed to Joe Martin, MC-234, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, TX 78711.

Please share this information with other interested parties.

List of Streams
Sycamore Creek, 0806E
Cottonwood Branch, 0822A
Grapevine Creek, 0822B
Walnut Creek, 0838C
Copart Branch Mountain Creek, 0841E
Cottonwood Creek, 0841F
Dalworth Creek, 0841G
Delaware Creek, 0841H
Estelle Creek, 0841J
Fish Creek, 0841K
Kirby Creek, 0841N
West Irving Creek, 0841U

Speaking of water...

A letter to the editor in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram makes another interesting point.  Protecting from flooding and supplying water, isn't that a water district's job?  WHAT are they up to instead?  Ask them.

Water pipelines

I totally agree with Friday letter writer Harry Kelly's logic about a water pipeline to Texas. This exact topic has been raised repeatedly among my engineering friends.

Water pipelines flowing south to Texas and other parched areas could have prevented the recent flooding of farmland along the Mississippi River. Similar pipelines placed strategically in flood-prone areas could be part of a network of pipelines nationwide to relieve drought-stricken areas as well as create new water storage reservoirs. There is no reason why our government cannot see the logic of moving the excess water from one place and send it to another that desperately needs it. This would also create thousands of jobs to build and maintain the life saving network.

-- Steven West, Arlington