Conservation is key in lake debate

No man knows the value of water until he goes without. We need an ample supply of water and none of us wants to turn the tap and get nothing.

Regarding “Financial Fallout Facing Denton County” by Flower Mound Mayor Tom Hayden: I don’t know if Upper Trinity is mismanaging the process and have not seen enough facts. I have to trust our elected officials that do have the facts.

I do feel we have taxation without representation when it comes to voting on major issues at Upper Trinity. There should be weighted voting when it comes to major capital expenditures (big investors get more votes).

Water in DFW is a huge issue. DFW is a big net importer of water from East Texas and we are not containing our wasteful thirst. We are kicking third to fifth generation farmers off their land in East Texas to build our lakes, so we can have lush green lawns and wash our cars.

We need to become better stewards and level peak demand for water. We pay for peak demand capacity all year – even when we don’t use it. Peak demand is largely because of our lush green lawns and landscapes in the summer.

The droughts are exasperating this issue. The population in DFW is also growing rapidly, as it will in Flower Mound as the economy rebounds. We will need water not only for new residents, but for new businesses.

Other member cities in the Upper Trinity may grow much faster than Flower Mound in coming years. Flower Mound had its major growth in the 80’s and 90’s. Flower Mound could be financing faster growth for member cities by taking on the debt of Lake Ralph Hall.

I do know that with demand-side management and conservation we could avoid building new lakes in East Texas and significantly lower our demand cost. Maybe our lawns and landscapes don’t need to be lush green in August? There are native plants and grasses that utilize much less water. Maybe we should pay more for water in periods of severe shortage? It would certainly curb demand and wasteful use of water – which sets our demand capacity cost.

Without real change in the ways we use water, we will pay big for water in the future. Demand already outstrips supply and we have to import the difference.

This Upper Trinity issue is just the ebb of a tidal wave in cost increases for water, as demand increases in our region and we try to pipe more water from East Texas to supply increasing demand.

Mark Glover
Flower Mound, TX