AZLE — The future of Eagle Mountain Lake could be up to local residents. The Tarrant Regional Water District has begun public talks to create a new watershed protection plan for Eagle Mountain Lake. The organization’s previous plan went into effect in the summer of 2016.
A Watershed Protection Plan is a watershed-based plan developed by local stakeholders to ensure future water quality. It designates uses of a waterbody through a combination of voluntary and nonregulatory water resource management measures. The plan’s introduction states that public participation is critical throughout plan development and implementation, as the ultimate success of any WPP depends on stewardship of the land and water resources by local landowners, businesses and residents of the watershed.
TRWD’s first stakeholder meeting for a future WPP took place Jan. 27 at the Azle Memorial Library. Private citizens joined representatives from the Texas A&M Forest Service, city of Azle, Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District, Texas Parks and Wildlife, local nonprofits and other agencies to discuss priorities and factors to consider in a new plan.
Kate Myers, watershed coordinator, and Aaron Hoff, watershed program manager, prepared and presented the future plan’s draft materials and answered questions from the audience. Much of the feedback given in this first meeting focused on clarity and readability of its planned maps and terminology.
One of the unique challenges for this plan, Myers said, is the changing water needs of the rapidly growing communities surrounding the lake.
“Some of the other watersheds, both that we work in and that other people across the state work in, are much more static in terms of, this is already completely urbanized, or this is super, super rural, and probably will be for a long time,” Myers said. “Eagle Mountain is neither one of those things. In the interim, there are adjustments that might have to be made to it along the way. The fundamental character of the watershed is going to keep changing, and probably pretty rapidly over the next 10 to 15 years, which would be the implementation timeline.”
Keeping sediment out of the lake and maintaining an ecological balance were listed as some of the top goals for the project. Myers said that preserving the storage capacity of currently existing reservoirs would always be preferable to having to try and build new ones.
“Nobody wants to do that,” Myers said. “No one wants to do the permitting for it. Nobody wants to do the eminent domain for it, no, no one wants it, right? So if we can just keep this one usable as long as possible, that’s ideal.”
A future meeting is planned to be held virtually as soon as new chapters have been prepared and edits have been made. Myers said there may be a possibility of future meetings being held in person in communities surrounding the lake.
“I’ve been looking forward to it,” Wise County homeowner Jim Duncan said of the meeting. “It’s a lot of good information, but they need to do a whole lot more in the way of outreach. I’m thinking this should be the high school auditorium, half full.”
To sign up for updates on future meetings and TRWD newsletters or ask questions, contact Myers at katie.myers@ trwd.com or 817-2533342. Myers is also slated to speak at an upcoming “Love Your Lake” celebration, Feb. 15, at the Fort Worth Boat Club hosted by the local nonprofit Save Eagle Mountain Lake. The event will last from 1 to 4 p.m. To register to attend, visit seml.glueup.com/.
“More people should come and find out how they get their water. TRWD does a great job. A lot of people don’t understand the kind of work they put into this,” SEML President Cary Lewis said. “So, these kinds of meetings like this, it goes a long way in educating the public and then helping us as well to know how to better serve our constituents.”
While Myers hopes to have the final version of the WPP completed by the end of the year, the timeline on when it might be approved by the appropriate federal authorities is still up in the air.
“I have no idea what the landscape is going to look like in terms of agency reviews,” Myers said. “Right now, it’s just a huge question mark. We don’t know what kinds of staffing might be implemented or not implemented, especially at the federal level. There have been years in the past where just it has taken, you know, six to 12 months to get a WPP back and then there have been times where they’re really on their game, and they get stuff back in like two weeks.”
“More people should come and find out how they get their water. TRWD does a great job. A lot of people don’t understand the kind of work they put into this...”
CARY LEWIS SEML President
TRWD Watershed Coordinator Katie Myers speaks at a stakeholder meeting.
TRWD Watershed Program Manager Aaron Hoff answers questions at a stakeholder meeting.
