Just.Stop.Talking.

The manager of the TRWD speaks on the 6 year, $6 million dollar lawsuit against Oklahoma.

WHERE do you think they got the $6 mil?  If you guessed YOU, you guessed correctly.

Notice how “continued growth and prosperity” remain one of their top priorities.  Funny, we thought their priorities were supposed to be water and flood control.

Did you Float with Feces at the Rocking the River event Thursday?  What did that cost?

Someone tell Oliver to put our money down and hush.

At least they “will look at other options to provide water” now.  Citizens have been asking them to for years.  They were too busy wakeboarding and restaurant building.

If they think the answer is the pipeline (the one their own staff doesn’t recommend and they are being sued over) or Marvin Nichols, maybe we need a new manager…

While we're at it, could we get some new attorney's too?  Cause any who thought this was a good idea need to go.  Stat.

Jim Oliver, general manager of the Tarrant Regional Water District, said that he is disappointed with the decision and that the district will look at other options to provide water for the region.

Securing additional water resources is essential to North Texas’ continued growth and prosperity and will remain one of our top priorities,” Oliver said, adding that the district spent about $6 million fighting the case in court.

Oliver said the district will continue to work with Oklahoma to see whether a deal can be struck for the purchase of water. “We’re still going to try to continue discussions with Oklahoma to see if some kind compromise can be reached, but I’m not going to bet the farm on it,” he said.

“The population in our service area is expected to double over the next 50 years, so we will act quickly to develop new sources,” Oliver said.

Read more here.

Waitin' on Water

Well, waiting to sue our neighbors again for theirs.

Politex explains WHY Irving and their current mayor have jumped on board. Now, WHY would the Supreme Court need another week? 

WHAT happens when the water is gone?  WHO will come to Texas then?  WHERE will you get water?

The U.S 10th Circuit and a lower federal court ruled in favor of Oklahoma in the lawsuit, in which the water district seeks to obtain water from north of the Red River to serve as part of the Metroplex's future water supply.

"The Supreme Court today decided to take another week to consider Tarrant’s certiorari petition challenging Oklahoma laws barring the export of water to Texas – indicating that the Justices are interested in Tarrant’s arguments and intend to study the case more deeply," said attorney Timothy S. Bishop.

"The Court will discuss whether to grant Tarrant’s petition again on March 30."

Last week, the Supreme declined to hear another case involving water being moved from Oklahoma to Texas. Hugo, Okla., had an agreement to sell water to Irving and the lower courts had ruled that Hugo couldn't sell water without Oklahoma's permission.

If this doesn't scare you...

Read the comments.  93 of them on an article posted today on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 

WHAT'S more important to YOU? Quality or growth?  What's more important to YOUR elected officials?

Do YOUR leaders really think lawn watering is the reason we're in the shape we're in?  We have reports of dead grass and trees from here to the Red River.

Remember earlier this week when a nonprofit did an investigation on Congress and their family connections.  WHAT do you think they are they paid to say?

WHO controls YOUR water?  What will the other cities do?  Like always, wait and see what Fort Worth does.  No offense, guys, but you need to pick another role model.

Guess the latest Irving Mayor has been brought into the game.  The last one tried to get water for the city instead of waiting on the Tarrant Regional Water District. All the way to the Supreme Court to get water from Oklahoma. 

"Mayor Price and I have been talking about lots of initiatives together, and water is one of them," Rawlings said. "I think water conservation is probably the most important issue we have in the next three decades. We cannot continue to grow without water, and I want to continue to grow."

The district provides raw water to 98 percent of residents in Tarrant County, including Fort Worth, Arlington and Mansfield.

"The goal is to reduce excessive outdoor watering and water waste, especially during peak summer months when rain is scarce and demands are high," said Linda Christie, the district's government and community relations director.

The (Tarrant Regional Water) district provides raw water to 98 percent of residents in Tarrant County, including Fort Worth, Arlington and Mansfield.

Officials with Colleyville and North Richland Hills said they haven't discussed the issue. North Richland Hills spokeswoman Mary Peters said the city will likely follow the lead of Fort Worth and the authority on the issue since it buys water from both entities.

The Fort Worth Water Department has 30 wholesale customers, including Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, Southlake, Hurst, Burleson and Crowley. Its contract requires customers to follow whatever rules the city implements itself.

The mayor of Irving, which tried unsuccessfully to broker its own water deal with Hugo, Okla., said the city is ready to work with others.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to hear a lawsuit that resulted from the proposed deal, upholding a lower court's ruling that Hugo couldn't sell water without Oklahoma's permission.
The people say:

Ok, I can understand wanting to conserve water and even using the  twice a week plan. BUT... what about all the Government buildings, Commercial properties & City landscapes that (even when "WE" were in restrictions last year) continue to water on a daily basis, not only in the heat of the day (outside of City required times) but also over watering to the point that there is a large stream running down the road.

What's required for us should be required for the Government and Commercial properties also.
"We cannot continue to grow without water, and I want to continue to grow."

Sounds like a mindless comment to me.  At what point does growth reduce the quality of your life?
Maybe if Rawlings stopped and thought about it, he would realize that the lack of water ITSELF is trying to tell him something, that growth only works when there are reasonable resources to sustain it.
Promoting growth with one hand, while restricting resources with the other, is a bad idea.  There has to be a balance.

"We cannot continue to grow without water, and I want to continue to grow."  Why must we continue to grow?  If you are conserving water, only to expand your growth, then you are just delaying the problem.  If we are under water restrictions, then there should be building restrictions as well.  No new house without the destruction of an equivalent number of sq ft.  7 billion people.  Just stop already.Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2...

Texas Vs. Oklahoma

Politex quoted an Associated Press article concerning the Tarrant Regional Water District and their lawsuit against Oklahoma to take their water.

The same Tarrant Regional Water District that is committing you to a billion dollar economic development project and just voted to give themselves another year in office.

Seems THE PEOPLE in Oklahoma may get to vote on what their state does with their water.  What a concept.

And what do you know?  The Fort Worth Way doesn't work across state lines.

Ellis, who is based in water-rich Southeastern Oklahoma has been one of the most vocal opponents of water sales to Texas and said the future of Oklahoma water should not be decided in private meetings between politicians and Texans.

Read more here: http://blogs.star-telegram.com/politex/2012/01/bill-would-give-oklahomans-the-right-to-vote-on-any-texas-water-sale.html#storylink=cpy

Remember Colorado?

We were forwarded a link to an article on Oilprice.com today, U.S. Government Confirms link between Earthquakes and Hydraulic Fracturing.

Mind you, they confirmed it in the 60s...

So what happens when the government says it is and the industry says it ain't?  WHO wins?

It ain't YOU.

We'll keep the readers comment attached, it was a pretty creative way of putting it.

(Oilprice) seems like an unlikely web site to be delivering the truth – but there it is – how ironic  … it takes a “quake” to send the message to Washington – that would have been the last thing I would have guessed a few years ago.  God help us if Rick “Secede” Perry gets anywhere near the White House. He will blame “Mother Earth” for not doing its patriotic duty and having the nerve to “burp” while being “water boarded”.

 

While polluting a local community’s water supply is a local tragedy barely heard inside the Beltway, an earthquake ranging from Oklahoma to Illinois, Kansas, Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas is an issue that might yet shake voters out of their torpor, and national elections are slightly less than a year away

Don't miss the article.  What do they say about history repeating itself? 

Yeah, we felt it too

There was an earthquake in Fort Worth tonight.  Well, we don't know where it was centered but we have reports coming in from North Fort Worth of a lot of shaking going on. And Google has lit up like a Christmas tree.  And, we felt the earth shaking.

Last night there was an earthquake in Oklahoma City.  Tonight an earthquake in Fort Worth.  What does Fort Worth and Oklahoma City have in common? Aside from gas drillers? 

Just saying.  And shaking.  On Saturday night in Texas.

Incoming update - 
Word is it was a 5.6 earthquake in Sparks, Oklahoma.  Like they say, what happens in Oklahoma, doesn't stay in Oklahoma...

What happens to water mains and gas pipelines when the ground moves?

Enough already!

The Tarrant Regional Water District is suing Oklahoma for their water.  Again.

After millions of dollars and many futile attempts.  Hello Boys, it's Oklahoma, not Tarrant County.

Jim Oliver is quoted in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about wanting to do what's right for the citizens.  Yes, you read that right. Maybe a good place to start would have been testing the Trinity River before having the citizens float in it. 

Maybe spend some of OUR money researching proven water planning options instead of suing our neighbors. 

Read the article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  Then stock up on water.

$3,767,522

Marvin Nichols Reservoir

That's what the Fort Worth Star-Telegram is reporting the Tarrant Regional Water District lawsuit against Oklahoma cost the taxpayers.  Don't forget the $889,890 paid to 8 Oklahoma lobbyist.

Their back up plan?  They still claim the Marvin Nichols Reservoir.  Remember, folks that told you this lawsuit wouldn't work, also said Marvin Nichols wouldn't either.  Those people in that part of the state don't take kindly to the big city folk taking what they've worked their entire lives for. And they have environmental concerns.  It ain't Tarrant County.

But after a ruling Wednesday by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of Oklahoma, the district appears no closer to getting water from north of the Red River than it was when it started the costly legal battle in 2007.

Judging by the comments from district officials after the ruling, they may be thinking about changing course.

General Manager Jim Oliver said last week that the lawsuit was "only one possible path to an agreement -- and quite frankly -- not the preferred path in our view."

The district board is tentatively scheduled to meet next week to discuss the matter, but board member Hal Sparks said it's premature to say what the board might do.

Waging the lawsuit hasn't been cheap: The district has paid $3,767,522 in legal fees to two law firms and $889,890 to eight Oklahoma lobbyists. At the end of the case those costs will be shared with the other parties in the lawsuit: Dallas Water Utilities, North Texas Municipal Water District and the Upper Trinity Regional Water District.

If Oklahoma water isn't an option, it will likely speed up the use of water from the Sulphur River Basin in Northeast Texas. Among the possibilities are building the controversial Marvin Nichols reservoir or raising the level of Wright Patman Lake in Northeast Texas. A multiyear feasibility study of the basin with the Sulphur River Basin Authority is still being conducted.

"We're going through the permitting process right now with Lower Bois D'Arc reservoir," Hickman said. "We filed five years ago and still have several years to go. One as big as Marvin Nichols would be even more difficult."

And there's the uncertainty of political opposition.

When Dallas tried to build Lake Fastrill along the Neches River in East Texas, environmentalists rallied against it. They eventually won when the area was designated a national wildlife refuge. Now Dallas is re-evaluating its long-term water plan. But Dennis Qualls, a senior engineer with Dallas Water Utilities, said officials there know that anything that includes new reservoirs is far from a sure thing.

What now?

What happens when your plan to supply water for millions of people hinges on suing your neighboring state, and you lose?

Ask the Tarrant Regional Water District.
Ask them how much that cost YOU.

Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The Tarrant Regional Water District suffered another blow in its lengthy legal battle to obtain water from Oklahoma on Wednesday as the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that has the little-known Red River Compact protects the Sooner State from any claims on its surface water.

"It's disappointing," said Tarrant Regional's General Manager Jim Oliver who said the water district will continue to explore its options. The water district could ask for a rehearing before the 10th Circuit, file a writ with the Supreme Court or simply accept the court's decision.

In its ruling, the 10th Circuit said "we hold that the Red River Compact insulates Oklahoma water statutes" from a legal challenge.

At the same time, the district sued the Oklahoma Water Resources Board and the Oklahoma Water Conservation Storage Commission to keep its permit applications from being dismissed while the matter was in court.

In July 2010, an Oklahoma federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, but the water district appealed the case to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

20 years ago...

(Per News9.com) Haliburton stopped burning fuel on their land in Duncan, OK. Now, the water is contaminated.

If it takes twenty years, what do YOU think Fort Worth will look like then?

THE PEOPLE of Duncan, Oklahoma were smart enough to call in Erin Brochovich.  She attended the meeting last night and her team is getting water samples.  Talk about a hero.  Hinkley, Duncan, WHO's next?

Putting 2 and 2 together

That's what we were doing yesterday when we discussed Erin Brockovich and Duncan, Oklahoma.

Guess WHO will be in Duncan tonight? 

Many locals have had contact with Erin over the past couple of years.  We can't wait till she makes it to Texas.  Literally.

Erin - When you're done in Duncan, come on down to Fort Worth.  The Welcome Wagon is ready!  So are THE PEOPLE.

Got Water?

Duncan, Oklahoma does.  Because Haliburton is supplying it. 

In a country where the industry repeatedly claims, "there has never been a case of water contamination", there sure seems to be a lot of water buying going on.  And if YOU didn't pollute someone's water, WHY would you offer to pay any healthcare costs associated?  Read about it on TXSharon's new website.

Does anyone not remember Erin Brockovich??

Erin’s exhaustive investigation uncovered that Pacific Gas & Electric had been poisoning the small town of Hinkley’s Water for over 30 years. It was because of Erin’s unwavering tenacity that PG & E had been exposed for leaking toxic Chromium 6 into the ground water. This poison affected the health of the population of Hinkley. In 1996, as a result of the largest direct action lawsuit of its kind, spear-headed by Erin and Ed Masry, the utility giant was forced to pay out the largest toxic tort injury settlement in US history: $333 million in damages to more than 600 Hinkley residents.

For the latest, go here.

Norman Oklahoma leads the way

In dirty water.

Read about it at the Huffington Post. 

WHO's looking out for YOUR water?

We've said it once...

but Mark Twain says it best...

“Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting over.”

Pay attention people...YOUR future depends on it.

Read about YOUR Water in the FW Weekly.  Kudos to them for bringing OUR water up again.  Too bad other "news" sources aren't concerned.

Fox 4 Earthquake update

Fox 4 News has the following on their website,

Don't blame the gas wells this time -- the real thing struck in Oklahoma this morning and people all over North Texas felt it.

Don't blame it on gas wells?  It was near Norman, Oklahoma...home of gas well headquarters.  Coincidence?

Fort Worth Earthquake Update

Leave it to Detective Durango to get to the bottom of things. 

What about YOUR water?

Keep an eye on it.  It's going fast.  WHY is it just now becoming a top priority?

WHO is using it? 

Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Water conservation has become a top priority in North Texas, as the 50-year water plan calls for 23 percent of future water needs to come from water conservation and reuse.


And for many years Dallas-Fort Worth has battled the perception that it uses an inordinate amount of water compared with other parts of the state. Some Oklahoma legislators involved in the Tarrant Regional Water District's legal fight to obtain water from north of the Red River have also portrayed the region's communities as "water hogs" and given that as a reason for opposing the sale of water to Texas.

Public awareness campaigns have accounted for a 14 percent reduction in water usage by the water district's customers between 2002 and 2009.

Further reducing water consumption is going to take the cooperation of not only residents but industry and government as well.

The combined water consumption of Chesapeake Energy in Arlington, Grapevine and Mansfield -- 171 million gallons -- is enough to make it one of the top 15 commercial users in Tarrant County. Since the Star-Telegram asked only for the top 10 users in each city, that figure does not include how much water Chesapeake is using in other Tarrant County cities, including Fort Worth.

Water Wars Continue

Tarrant Regional Water District continuing their fight to take Oklahoma's water.  What would happen if Oklahoma tried to take water from Texas? 

Maybe Oklahoma City could give us their water, since they need so much of it here in the BS.  (Barnett Shale)

Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Double Standard?

The City of Lewisville has been fined by TCEQ for a waste water spill.  Was the industry fined for this? Or this? 

And how much did they pay for the 1,146,598,272.73 gallons of water they used from one aquifer alone in 2009?  Read about it on TXSharon.  You don't know what you got, until it's gone...The Tarrant Regional Water District might want to hurry their Oklahoma law suit along, we're gonna need your water, O.K. blog readers.

Cowboys and Indians

The Tarrant Regional Water District is now looking to a tribe in Oklahoma for water. Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.