The Northeast Texas community has been fighting the two permits that will establish the Marvin Nichols project. In the face of what is conceived as defiance by the DFW, the people are preparing to give it their all.
With the increasing population of Dallas-Fort Worth, officials see the Marvin Nichols Reservoir as a means to meet the growing water needs of the community. But to members of the community, this is a deadly project that will flood about 65,000 acres of resource-rich Northeast Texas land. They also fear that the reservoir will lead to the displacement of longtime residents as well as the destruction of wildlife habitats in the area.
The project, estimated to cost at least $4.4 billion, will cause enormous harm to the economy, and locals have come out to express their disapproval. A member of the Preserve Northeast Texas had spoken against the plan at a 2015 public hearing, describing it as unfair.
According to the Longview News-Journal, Cheatwood had said, “We don’t think it’s right that people with money can just come in and push people off their land when they have other choices.”
Despite the local pushback and disapproval the project has received, DFW wants to move forward with the execution of the plan.
Plans for the reservoir seem more likely to take off after the approval of the state water plan by the Texas Water Development Board on Wednesday. However, the opposition is maintaining their fight to stop it.