Texas Water Captains Attend Region I Water Planning Meeting, May 18, 2016

Water Captains from Jacksonville and Nacogdoches met at the Nacogdoches Recreation Center on May 18th to attend the Region I Water Planning Group meeting. The volunteer water leaders had all attended earlier workshops and were well-versed in most of the major issues facing east Texas and its projected water supply.

Regional water planners invited public testimony on the fifth round of meetings discussing the 2020 regional water planning cycle. The meeting highlighted two particularly important issues facing the 2020 water plan: population and water-demand projection allocations and groundwater-availability modeling updates. The planning meeting considered new  data-gathering methodologies that would create more accurate scientific models for future water plans.

Kelley Holcomb, Region I planning group chair and general manager of the Angelina & Neches River Authority, invited public participation twice during the meeting and took the time to answer several citizens’ questions. After the meeting, Holcomb interacted with attendees, answering their questions and helping them find resolutions for their concerns.

Texas Water Development Board member, Kathleen Jackson, attended and encouraged the water planning group in its efforts. She also emphasized the relationship between the water planning process and the future of a healthy Texas economy. Jackson reminded participants that the Texas Water Development Board exists to partner with local and regional leaders to help fund desperately needed water projects.

The meeting ended with a call for volunteers to apply for vacant and soon-to-be vacant seats on the Region I Water Planning Group. If you would like to apply for a position on the water group and you live in one of the following counties, contact your county judge for more information--and please let us know!

For a list of positions and their respective interest areas, click here and look under paragraph “d.”