Dam in Texas Is Put on Hold by Concern Over Habitat

New York Times ^ | 7/20/02

[kattracks]

ROWNSVILLE, Tex., July 20 — A $40 million channel dam on the Rio Grande that would provide drought relief to this part of South Texas has been delayed by a federal report saying the project would deplete about a third of a protected wildlife habitat.

The report, released on Friday by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, said that the project would flood about 16 acres of grass and brush in the Sabal Palm Forest Wildlife Community.

The agency's determination that the proposed dam is not compatible with the land's designation as a refuge temporarily blocks the project, which supporters say is crucial for the future of Brownsville.

The fast-growing Brownsville area of South Texas has felt the region's water crisis acutely. The effects of an extended drought have been worsened by Mexico's failure to meet the terms of a water-sharing treaty.

Environmentalists, however, applauded the report, which said that the affected area included "the last remnants of a vast and biologically diverse brushland ecosystem."

"Over 95 percent of this fragmented wildlife corridor has been lost to development," the federal report said. "The narrow and presently fragmented wildlife corridor that is partially contained within refuge lands would only be narrowed further with the inundation of the riverbank and adjacent lands."

Mary Lou Campbell of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Sierra Club said, "The refuge and the ecotourism industry that relies on it are too sensitive for a construction project of this magnitude."

The project calls for a weir, or gated dam, to be built about eight miles downstream from Brownsville and Matamoros, Mexico. The weir would create a reservoir holding about two billion gallons of water.

Emily Ordeman-Salazar, a spokeswoman for the Brownsville Public Utility Board, which is developing the water project, said the delay caused by the wildlife service report was only temporary.

"This is a bump in the road that we thought could happen," Ms. Ordeman-Salazar said, "and we're dealing with it because we still feel strongly about the project."

[Cindy]

Incredible!! The eco-wackos seem to still be in charge! People come first. It's just that simple.

[Vidalia]

... The report, released on Friday by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, said that the project would flood about 16 acres of grass and brush in the Sabal Palm Forest Wildlife Community.

The Fedi-toads continue to ...could it be that they LIE?

How about second opinions on this crap from the Fish and Wildlife office from Liars Hell to dispute, refute and legally shoot down more and more of this nonsense?

Are there any "clearing houses" set up to flush these "ah-soles" down the terlit of Truth?

[Movemout]

Dam the Habitat!

[Drew68]

I hope Texas is learning from Colorado. We could have had Two Forks Reservior built a decade ago but the environmentalists derailed it. Now people are being forced to purchase bottled water because the existing reservoirs are so low that contaminants cannot be filtered out.

The only good thing is that environmentalists (who were always given a pass in the media) are finally facing the public ridicule they so richly deserve.

[ActionNewsBill]

I am your dam guide, Arnie, please don't wander off the dam tour and please take all the dam pictures you want. Now are there any dam questions?

[Sacajaweau]

If we didn't have the dam in our area, our major city would have been wiped out many, many times. Man has a wonderful genius and our forefathers did a good job for "their" population.

This is a progressive, creative, still growing nation.

Denying people "water" where it can be made available is about as low as you can go.

Sac

[Dallas]

Just one...where's the dam restroom ?

[rustbucket]

Where exactly are they talking about? Do they mean the Sabal Palms Audubon Sactuary below Brownsville?

All the river water has already been allocated to water rights owners (industries, farmers, communities) in this rapidly growing area such that the Rio Grande can't even reach the Gulf anymore. See: Rio Grande runs dry

Hopefully recent Texas rains have changed that situation.

[DainBramage]

First Dam Bump

[Free the USA]

Index Bump