When you write your legislator or contact them on-line mention these facts:

Governmental agency reports show the footprint of the Marvin Nichols reservoir, along with possible mitigation of prime bottomland hardwoods, could result in the permanent loss of 200,000 to nearly 1 million acres of forestlands from production.

The state should not consider charging North Texas ratepayers a minimum of $2.1 billion to destroy valuable ranch and wildlife resources while negatively impacting the economy of Northeast Texas as long as there are lower-cost, lower-impact water supply alternatives available to the Metroplex.

A significant quantity of already impounded water is available to North Texas because it is as yet unsold in reservoirs such as Lake Texoma, Wright Patman and in the Brazos Basin. Water purveyors in the DFW area are proceeding with the expensive Marvin Nichols Reservoir project without giving these already existing sources sufficient consideration.

Construction and mitigation of Marvin Nichols Reservoir would require taking at least 235,000 acres of land out of production, much of it by condemnation under eminent domain. Thousands of Texans would be forced to sell the family land that provides their annual livelihoods.

According to the principal economist for the Texas Forest Service, Marvin Nichols would cause a loss to the timber industry alone of 400 to 1300 jobs and $87 million to $275 million in annual revenues. Wildlife habitat in the Sulphur River Basin would also be severely impacted by Marvin Nichols. More that 40 miles of river and 30,000 acres of increasingly rare bottomland hardwood forest would disappear forever such as those in Mercer Bayou located in Miller County..