Water woes continue as Pittsburg residents push back against sale of Lake
PITTSBURG, Texas (KETK) — Pittsburg residents spoke at their city council meeting to oppose the sale of water at Lake O' Pines on Tuesday afternoon.
Many East Texans are against the sale of Lake O' Pines water to the DFW Metroplex including Jefferson resident, Sharilyn Parr.
'It's almost incredulous to see the gluttony that they have in their water use and they want to come over here for our water,' Parr said.
Parr and her husband Bryan explained that Caddo Lake benefits from the Pines downstream. 'Texas has a few treasures that you don't mess with, the Alamo is one of them and I'm going to put Caddo Lake on that list too. You don't mess with Caddo,' Parr said.
Water district tries to ease concerns about Dallas buying Lake O' the Pines water
The Northeast Texas Municipal Water District (NETMWD) gave the Pittsburg City Council a presentation and in return will give their board members a recommendation into the sale.
The NETMWD General Manager, Wayne Owen was not present at the council meeting but told KETK News that most of the water is not being used.
'We're proposing to sell about 70,000 acre feet of water that is being controlled by the district,' Owen said. 'Right now of the 200,000 acre feet only about 30,000 is being used, that's a great deal of water that's not being used.'
Owen explained that the voluntary downstream to Caddo Lake will not stop and cities should consider the financial gain of selling a small portion of water.
There are seven cities that have to consider the sale of a combined total of 20,000 acre feet of water:
Pittsburg
Daingerfield
Hughes Springs
Jefferson
Lone Star
Avinger
Ore City
Each city council will make a recommendation to their board members, five of seven members are required for the water to sell. The district portion that will sell 50,000 acre feet of water will need four out of seven members to approve the sell.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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