Toledo Bend
Bi-State
Alliance

In a further effort to reach more people who are affected by Toledo Bend, the Alliance held a special meeting in Shelby County February 18th. There were several people from the area who attended including retirees, fishing guides, civic associations, home and business owners and press writers.

The people of Shelby County raised various concerns about how they are adversely affected when the lake level fluctuates extremely, as it has in the past 4 years. Business owners and fishing guides expressed the severe loss of business experienced directly correlating with low lake levels. All persons with lakefront property experienced high out of pocket expenses building and re-building break walls and loss of acreage due to erosion. Nearly everyone in attendance indicated they have made numerous attempts, to no avail, to communicate to the Sabine River Authority of Texas about the problems and expenses incurred due to present management practices.

Because the Shelby County citizens have not had the opportunity to be directly involved in the efforts of the Alliance for the past year and a half, mostly due to the long drive for them to come to Hemphill, a lot of information was presented in a short period of time.

Among the information that was exchanged was the fact that the present Operating Guide Rule Curve used by the SRA was established on October 6, 1976. In 1985, the Power Sales Agreement between the SRAs and the Power Companies was changed from a fixed price for the electricity produced at Toledo Bend to payment by the kilowatt-hour for power produced. This change resulted in greater revenue to the Sabine River Authorities. In 1995 the annual Peaking Power estimate of 65,700-megawatt hours was attained by the end of June. Following the 1976 Operating Guide Rule Curve, power production was continued through the Peaking Period September 30th. The lake level was reduced to below 168' msl on August 29, 1995 and remained below 168' msl for the last 125 days of 1995 and the entire year of 1996, a total of 491 consecutive days. A new record low lake level of 163.77' msl was set on September 11, 1998. Yet, 1998 was the 10th highest power-producing year in the history of Toledo Bend Reservoir.

With regard to the recent flooding above and especially below the dam, many citizens living on the lake and below the dam on the river are questioning the current method used for triggering the opening of the floodgates when high levels of rain occur in the Sabine River basin. Many people who live on the Sabine below the dam have contacted members of the Alliance and have been invited to attend the next meeting to express their concerns.

Governor Bush, who appoints the Board Members to the TX SRA, has been called, written and emailed by numerous citizens and business owners of Texas and Louisiana. To date he has taken no action that the Alliance is aware of. However, his Director of Correspondence and Constituent Services, assured the Alliance that Governor Bush is aware of the problems and concerns expressed by the Alliance and trusts the Sabine River Authority to respond and treat all Texans fairly. With that in mind, another attempt was made by the Alliance to meet with Sabine River Authority of Texas. A letter was written to the new President of TX SRA requesting a special meeting be held, open to the public, to specifically discuss problems unique to Toledo Bend. The TX SRA promptly wrote back. The SRA thanked the Alliance for their interest in the Operation of Toledo Bend and the Sabine River Authority. However, due to the fact that the Brown & Root Operating Guide Re-Evaluation Study found the current Operating Guide is not deficient and they believe the Power Sales Agreement precludes them from making a change to their operation, they asked that the Alliance contact them again in April 2001. The Alliance has requested the SRA reconsider their decision.

The goal of the Alliance continues to be to improve Toledo Bend Reservoir as a recreational resource of Texas and Louisiana, to enhance tourism and economic development in the area of the reservoir. To attain these goals there must be cooperation and dialog with the two SRAs. That means there is a need to meet and discuss problems, as the SRAs are the agencies that, in most cases, must resolve the problems. Individuals have spent many hundreds of hours to find an answer to the situation of low lake level. A solution, that would not diminish the power production at Toledo Bend. The Alliance has adopted a resolution supporting Simulation #6 of the Brown & Root Operating Guide Re-Evaluation Study dated July of 1998. This study was commissioned by the Toledo Bend Project Joint Operations Board and managed by the Toledo Bend Project Joint Technical Board without outside input. Simulation # 6, one of eight computer simulations using the actual flow data from the reservoir, shows that if the lake had been managed by the criteria in Simulation # 6, more power would have been generated and the lake would have experienced minimal time under 168' msl over all. While this simulation is not utopia, the Alliance believes it is the best compromise to address the various competing issues that must be addressed when operating the reservoir.

For more information, a look at these documents and more, please visit the website at www.toledo-bend.com/alliance or call Larry Kelly at 318/286-9946, email kellyle@worldnetla.net or Janna Lehman at 409/625-3394, email justlikehome@bigfoot.com