CADDO LAKE
NEWS
NEWSLETTER OF THE GREATER CADDO LAKE ASSOCIATION OF TEXAS
February 2010
GCLA Board Officers: PRESIDENT
Doug Parker VICEPRES. Sam Canup
SECRETARY Jack Welch TREASURER
Judith Johnson
DIRECTORS: Sam
Canup, Brandon Cullum, Jack Canson, Terry Echols , Dan Fulghum,
Judy Johnson, Gary Kempf, Doug Parker,Ken Shaw, Sara Smith, Robert
Speight, Jr., Tom Walker, Patti Webb, Jack Welch, John Winn
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_From
the President_
2009 was a remarkable year!
Around the lake, we usually welcome
rain. However, lately even the locals are starting to holler “calf
rope”. The lake is back below flood levels and most folks are back
in their homes – some being out of their homes for 30 days or more.
That’s a long time to wait for clean socks! As this is being
written, the lake is still above normal levels and the water has
risen again, slightly. And it is still raining!!
The long awaited opening of the Caddo
Lake National Wildlife Refuge was held in September with well
deserved fanfare. Now the real work begins! We hope that you will be
supportive of the Friends of Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge.
The refuge already has an automobile self guided tour as well as a
horseback/walking trail (watch where you step). Stop out and enjoy
the Refuge.
Giant Salvinia continues to be the
major issue at the lake and it is not going away soon. See the
article from Ken Shaw.
Doug
It Rained, Then Rained Some
More
By John Winn
Unless you were off in some distant
desert, you probably felt like you needed to grow fins and breathe
through gills in the month of October around Caddo. October turned
out to be one of our wettest on record with rainfall totals reaching
over 20 inches in some areas. With an already wetter than normal
summer before the October deluge, it turned out to be more than the
banks of Caddo could hold. Residents and business owners found
themselves putting stuff up and moving things out as the water
continued to rise. There is a significant economic impact for the
businesses and a difficulty for the residents during these flood
events. Most people take it in stride and do what they have to do.
It’s the price you pay to live on the lake. There were several
houses flooded and I even heard tell of one person watching a pike
chase a bass in his living room! At one café here on Caddo you were
served breakfast by someone wading through water wearing rubber
boots, and at another restaurant you had to walk a plank to gain
access to the sausage and eggs. But no one seemed to mind the
inconvenience. One day during the flood, as I paddled past a
neighbor’s house in my pirogue (down the road) he came out to say hi
and he told me something that really summed it all up in just a few
words. He said the difference between a flood and an adventure is
attitude!
It’s hard to imagine that in 2005 and
2006 we were so dry we reached “exceptional drought status” and in
some areas around us the annual rainfall total in those years was
barely more than this last October.
On October 19th the water
crested on Pine Island Pond at 176.4 feet above sea level and a few
days later it crested at Mooringsport at 175.2. With continuing rain
and an extraordinary amount of water held by Lake O’ the Pines, the
water levels are still above average at this time.
Shady Glade Cafe
Donna Selman, chef and pie baker
extraordinaire has donated $317 toward salvinia eradication. Donna
has earmarked $1 for every Caddo breakfast she serves to go toward
the elimination of salvinia on Caddo Lake. As soon as she gets
cleaned up after the flood, stop by for breakfast and support a
worthy cause. Thanks, Donna!
Funding for Salvinia Control
GCLA has recently donated over $4,000
to the Cypress Valley Navigation District in
support of their invasive species
spraying program. This donation was made possible by GCLA member
donations specified for Salvinia control.
GIANT SALVINIA BATTLE CONTINUES
Since the discovery of Giant Salvinia,
originally in Jeems Bayou in 2006, the battle against invasive
plants, especially Giant Salvinia, has continued to be the main
activity for the Cypress Valley Navigation District (CVND). This
has been with the support of many agencies and organizations. Both
Giant Salvinia and Water Hyacinths have been an issue for residents
and visitors to Caddo Lake, interrupting water activities, affecting
the health of the lake, and impacting business and tourism.
Though CVND has been actively
spraying, the acreage of Giant Salvinia continues to increase
dramatically. In 2007, Texas Parks and Wildlife estimated the
acreage of Giant Salvinia in Texas to be less than 100 acres. In
2008, that estimate increased to over 1200 acres. This year, Texas
Park and Wildlife (TPWD) estimates the acreage to be in excess of
3,000 acres. Water Hyacinths has decreased in acreage,
significantly, but has received less attention due the seriousness
of Giant Salvinia.
CVND spraying efforts have
been impacted by many factors, some positive, some negative. A
second spray boat was added early this year. CVND acquired and
outfitted, under the guidance of TPWD, a Go-Devil powered by a Pro
Drive motor. It is equipped with the same spray equipment as their
airboat and after some adjustments has the capability of spraying 40
- 50 acres per day under optimum conditions. This is similar to the
airboat. The acres sprayed this year have been significantly
impacted by weather and flooding. Extensive amounts of rainy and
windy weather have reduced the days available for spraying,
sometimes to a few days per month. Giant Salvinia however has
continued its growth. The flooding events have kept the spray boats
off of the lake. But, the flooding has washed significant amounts of
both plants over the spillway into the Red River. In the Cypress
Breaks, the plants have been held in place by the Cypress trees, in
spite of the strong currents.
Strong support from many sources has
continued to help CVND continue its operations. The Texas
Legislature has approved funding in the amount of $100,000 for CVND
to use in the invasive species battle for each of the next two
years. This funding was guided through the legislature by Senator
Eltife and his staff, with the support of Representatives Bryan
Hughes and Stephen Frost. Also, Harrison County Judge Richard
Anderson and Caddo Lake Institute President Rick Lowerre were very
involved in the approval of this funding. This funding was lower
than the $120,000 approved in the two preceding years, but TPWD, the
managing agency of the funding, added an additional $20,000 for each
year, maintaining the $120,000 amount.
Additionally, GCLA has contributed
$4,000 plus which were funds received by donations specifically
designated for control of Giant Salvinia.
Giant Salvinia continues to be a
major threat to Caddo Lake, as well as other bodies of water in the
United States. Your support and the support of our governments and
research institutes are vital to finding a solution to this
worldwide problem.
Check your Membership
Please check the mailing label to see
when your GCLA membership will expire. If it has expired, or will do
so soon, please send us your renewal. We need your support to
protect the lake we love. (That would be Caddo!)
Let’s make it Easy
We would like to encourage you to
renew your membership for more than one year. We can handle any
number of years and it will save you time and postage.
CADDO LAKE NEWS
NEWSLETTER OF THE GREATER CADDO LAKE ASSOCIATION OF TEXAS MARCH/
APRIL 2009
www.caddolakenews.org
CADDO VEGETATION CONTROL WRAP UP FOR 2008
First GCLA then CVND have been spraying water hyacinth and giant
salvinia for the last several years. GCLA started with a paddle
wheel boat and small spray rig that was geared towards water
hyacinth control... salvinia had not reared its ugly head at that
time. But with the discovery of salvinia molesta in Jeems Bayou, we
immediately knew we were in for a long, hard fight. Many volunteers
spent hour upon hour on the lake picking up and disposing of the
salvinia, but the monster just kept coming. CVND starting spraying
with two small rigs and in April of 2008 received a surplus airboat
from Texas Parks and Wildlife. This boat was fitted with the latest
spray equipment, had a new engine installed and operators were
hired. On May 26, 2008 the spraying started. The airboat can spray
up to 65 acres a day compared to 2-4 acres a day with the small
rigs! Operators sprayed steadily until late November 2008. During
that time the operators were spraying both hyacinth and salvinia.
The numbers are quite impressive;
511 hours on airboat since May 26, 2008
2880 total acres sprayed consisting of:
1855 acres of water hyacinth and 1025 acres of giant salvinia
sprayed
62% reduction in the amount of water hyacinth observed on the lake.
(from the TPWD annual survey in August 2008 as compared to the same
survey in 2007)
Areas of the lake that had been virtually unusable in 2007 are now
open. Places like Turtle Shell, Hog Wallow, and Stumpy Slough have
all been sprayed and the majority of water hyacinth has been killed.
The north shore folks from Holland’s Camp to the back of Ames Spring
also received some much needed relief from the water hyacinth that
had left them without access to the lake for years. Although free of
hyacinth, the salvinia has really come on in these areas. CVND plans
to continue spraying both plants this year, starting as early in the
spring as possible and spraying until the last possible day in early
winter.
Agreement Between Caddo Lake Coalition & City of Marshall
Ends Long Running Dispute Over Water Permit Change
December 11, 2008, the Marshall City Commissioners voted unanimously
to approve a settlement agreement that resolved all issues between
the city and the Caddo Lake Coalition that were pending before the
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality following a seven-year
legal battle that went all the way to the State Supreme Court.
The Caddo Lake Coalition consists of The GCLA of Texas, the City of
Uncertain, the Caddo Lake Chamber of Commerce, and the Caddo Lake
Institute.
Under the terms of the agreement, Marshall is withdrawing its
application to amend its long-established permit to withdraw water
from Big Cypress for municipal purposes to allow the city to sell
raw water for industrial use. The amendment was the principal issue
in contention between the city and the coalition. Marshall contended
it needed the flexibility to provide untreated water to attract
economic development. The Coalition believed that approval of the
change to the permit could result in dramatic increases in
withdrawals, reducing Big Cypress flows into the lake during
critical dry periods. It was the coalition’s position that the city
had other, more appropriate ways to provide untreated water to any
customers who required it.
Resolution of the permit issue was made possible when the city
recently secured the availability of industrial raw water from Lake
of the Pines through the Northeast TX Municipal Water District and
received approval from TCEQ, without objection from coalition
members, to distribute the water in the Sabine Basin as well as the
Cypress Basin.
The city and the coalition also reached an agreement that resolves
the question of whether water being discharged from the city’s
wastewater treatment plant is required to be returned to the Cypress
Basin.
The coalition was represented in negotiations by GCLA of Texas
President Doug Parker, Uncertain Mayor Sam Canup, Caddo Chamber
President Terry Coleman, and Caddo Lake Institute President Rick
Lowerre.
Lowerre also praised City Commission Chairman William “Buddy” Power,
the other commissioners, City Attorney Todd Fitts, and city staff
for their hard work and determination to make this settlement
possible.
"This is a landmark agreement, one that shows that it is possible to
find ways to meet all of the needs for water in the region," Lowerre
said. "This agreement proves that, when people with different
perspectives and goals work together, they can find solutions that
balance their needs."
CVND RECEIVES $40,000 USFWS GRANT FOR INVASIVE AQUATIC PLANT CONTROL
For the second consecutive year, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
has provided the Cypress Valley Navigation District (CVND) with a
grant of $40,000 for use in the ongoing battle against invasive
aquatic plants on Caddo Lake. The first grant, provided in late
2007, was used for various activities, including spray equipment,
labor and chemicals. The current grant provided in late 2008, will
be used principally for labor and chemical expenses. The grant is a
result of efforts by Mark Williams, Refuge Manager for the Caddo
Lake Wildlife Refuge. Mark's continued support and involvement in
lake and refuge activities include providing direct contact with the
USFWS for support of local needs.
Matching funds of equal amounts are required for receiving these
type grants. These funds are managed by the Northeast Texas
Municipal Water District (NETMWD). They include other donations and
local volunteer efforts for the control of these plants. These
local efforts are provided by many local organizations and
individuals, and are consolidated and managed by NETMWD for matching
funds purposes. The Caddo Lake Watershed Protection Program
Coordinator, Lee Thomas, manages these funds.
CVND continues to be the primary organization for fighting invasive
plants, including water hyacinths and more importantly, giant
salvinia. Giant salvinia, first discovered on the Louisiana side of
Caddo Lake in June, 2006, infests many areas on the Texas side, with
acreage estimates now over 1,000 acres. Giant salvinia, labeled the
"world's worst aquatic plant," doubles in size in a week to ten
days, is cold resistant, and crowds out all forms of life, both
flora and fauna. This floating fern is a world-wide problem which
has no permanent solution. Caddo Lake has been described as the
perfect incubator for giant salvinia. It threatens the survival of
Caddo Lake, as well as all the tourism, sports activities and
economy of the lake and surrounding communities.
"As grant funds become available, continued development of matching
funds is a necessity," says CVND Chairman, Ken Shaw. "Donations of
time and money are both critical to being able to match and receive
grants like this grant from the USFWS.”
MEMBERSHIP AND ANNUAL DUES
Your board of directors recently voted to change our yearly April to
April membership and annual dues to August to August. Current
members will have their membership extended through August 2009 at
no cost . New and old members who pay their dues between now and
August 2009 will have their membership extended through August 2010.
For Immediate Release: January 9, 2009 Contact: Jack Canson
903-217-7458
City & Caddo Lake Coalition Sign Water Agreement
It’s official. Representatives of the Caddo Lake Coalition and
officials from the City of Marshall met Thursday at Caddo Lake and
signed the agreement that resolved all issues in the long-standing
dispute between the city and the coalition regarding proposed
changes to Marshall’s water permit.
The Marshall City Commission unanimously approved the agreement
December 11, 2008. Representatives of the City of Uncertain, the
Caddo Lake Chamber of Commerce, the Texas Greater Caddo Lake
Association met with City Commission Chairman William “Buddy” Power
and City Secretary Lisa Agnor for a document signing ceremony aboard
a boat in the scenic Turtle Shell area of the lake.
Demonstrating how the new spirit of cooperation can benefit all,
Marshall City Commission Chairman Power told the group about plans
now underway to conduct a 14 day test of mechanical removal
equipment near the south shore of the lake as early as March. Power
has been working with south shore property owner and Marshall native
John Sanders on the project. Jack Canson, Caddo Lake Institute
Community Outreach Director, is assisting with coordination.
Detailed plans for the test will be announced later in the month.
Pictured left to right are: City of Uncertain Mayor Sam Canup,
Marshall City Commission Chairman William “Buddy” Power, Caddo Lake
Chamber of Commerce President Terry Coleman, Texas Greater Caddo
Lake Association President Doug Parker, City of Uncertain Secretary
Phyllis Oxman, and Marshall City Secretary Lisa Agnor.
Letter to the Editor, Marshall News
Messenger, 9/16/07
I am writing this as a concerned individual, not as a representative
of any group, organization, or project.
You are probably aware that the city of Marshall has submitted a new
application with TCEQ to amend its municipal water permit to
industrial use.
To refresh your memory, Marshall first sought this amendment over
five years ago when Entergy announced they would build a power plant
in Harrison County. It was Marshall's intent to supply the plant
with raw water from Big Cypress.
There was widespread opposition to this from lakeside communities
and even among many Marshall residents. The roughshod manner in
which the city and some of the industrial permit supporters tried to
ram this down the throats of the community created some embittered
feelings that persist to this day.
When TCEQ approved the amendment without a contested hearing, CLI
and a number of local residents went to court to have TCEQ's permit
approval overthrown.
Entergy pulled out of the controversy by making an agreement to
purchase treated waste water from Longview. Still, the city
persisted.
The case was decided in CLI's favor in district court, then State
Court of Appeals. When Marshall appealed to the State Supreme Court,
the court held that TCEQ could not award the industrial permit
without consideration of potential harmful impacts on other water
rights holders and on the environment. The decision was sufficiently
hazy, however, that the water lobby folks believe they still have a
shot. Marshall's Austin attorneys have convinced the city commission
that they should reapply with a tweaked up application.
It is safe to say that one part of their strategy is that there is
not the will to challenge them that there was in the past.
Marshall taxpayers have paid their law firm over $500,000 to date
pursuing this permit change. I don't know what CLI's legal expenses
have been but it is likely they are in the same range.
Last Sunday, the News Messenger strongly questioned this
reapplication for industrial use by the city.
Sunday's News Messenger editorial cogently states:
"We think the city is paying to help an ambitious Austin attorney
make what he thinks could be a legal precedent. We think we have
been duped into paying for a ruling that the attorney thinks could
help someone else — maybe another client — even if it does nothing
for Marshall."
This entire issue is based on the concept that Marshall's 1948
allocation under municipal use should not be converted to industrial
use without an impartial hearing to determine if doing so would harm
the lake and its wetlands, not to mention property owners at Caddo
Lake.
All opponents to the permit change have ever sought is the contested
case hearing. We are confident evidence produced in a contested
hearing would amply demonstrate that amending Marshall's permit to
allow industrial sales outside of its service area would be harmful
to the lake.
Why?
Because with an industrial permit in hand, the city could sell raw
water from Big Cypress, up to their total allocation, to any user
they choose.
Marshall currently only uses about 35% of its 1948 allocation. With
an industrial permit in hand, the city could nearly triple the
amount of water it withdraws from Big Cypress.
This was a bad idea when it first popped up all those years ago. It
is even worse now that we are fighting giant salvinia and record
levels of water hyacinth at Caddo.
Both these plants are water-eating monsters. When you look at 3,000
acres of water hyacinth, you are looking at a minimum of 3,000 acre
feet of water that has been removed from the lake and is bound up in
the molecular structure of the plant.
When the plants die, all that water is not returned to the lake.
Every day those plants are alive they are exhaling some of the water
in them into the atmosphere.
Both giant salvinia and water hyacinth are more than 90% water. They
not only cover the water's surface, they CONSUME water.
We are going to turn back giant salvinia and water hyacinth in time,
I am convinced. It will take a monumental effort and it will be
ongoing for many years to come.
The last thing on earth we need is for more water to be diverted
from Caddo Lake, especially from Big Cypress Bayou before it has had
a chance to spread out over the shallow western side of the lake.
During hot, low flow periods doubling and nearly tripling the amount
of water Marshall diverts from the lake will have a crippling effect
on the wetlands on the Texas side of the lake.
A lot of people are working very hard to save these areas from giant
salvinia. We need also to take a position against amending
Marshall's water permit to allow industrial sales of raw water from
Big Cypress.
After all these years, the News Messenger has taken a strong stand
on this issue.
It would be a sad and unfortunate state of affairs if Caddo Lake
people don't let the News Messenger and everybody else know that we
too oppose amending Marshall's water permit to allow industrial
sales.
Toward that end, I will have a letter to the editor in this Sunday's
paper. I encourage others to make their feelings known.
Call Speak Out. Write letters. Email folks. Call City Commissioners.
Let them hear from people who love Caddo Lake.
Thanks for reading,
Jack
Marshall
News-Messenger, November 25, 2007.
By RYAN RENFROW, News Messenger
The efforts at Caddo Lake to help control the many invasive species
assaulting the water were a major point of discussion at the 2nd
Annual
Texas Invasive Plants Conference in Austin last weekend.
"Caddo Lake is always a topic of interest to people in general
because it's
the only naturally-formed lake of its size in Texas, but it's also
the home
place of Lady Bird Johnson," said Jack Canson, project coordinator
for the
Caddo Lake Giant Salvinia Community Response,
The conference at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center was
attended by
close to 150 professional plant control people from the government
and
academia including officials from Texas Parks and Wildlife,
departments of
Interior and Agriculture and the Army Corps of Engineers, who all
deal with
terrestrial and aquatic plants, said Canson.
In attendance as Caddo Lake representatives were Vanessa Adams, a
biologist
for TPWD, Beverly Allen, a biologist for North East Texas Municipal
Water
District, and Howard Elder and Earl Chilton of the Inland Fisheries
Division
of TPWD.
"All made presentations specifically about the invasive aquatic
plant
problem at Caddo Lake. That's giant salvinia, water hyacinth and
hydrilla.
To a casual observer visiting (Caddo Lake) the obvious problem is
the water
hyacinth. There are over 3,000 acres where you're supposed to be
seeing
water and it looks like land," said Canson.
However, the water hyacinth is acting as camouflage to an even
bigger
problem.
"The greatest threat is the giant salvinia which is hidden in that
water
hyacinth, and unlike the water hyacinth it doesn't come and go,
spiking one
year and going back the next. It (giant salvinia) just gets bigger
and
bigger and takes over more and more," he added.
Since the water hyacinth is helping precipitate the growth of giant
salvinia
a new tactic has been created to combat both species.
"For the first time ever since water hyacinth first appeared in
Caddo Lake
there is going to be a real comprehensive program to fight water
hyacinth
next year, because it's the only way you can get to giant salvinia.
It's
really ironic because we should have been fighting water hyacinth a
long
time ago," noted Canson.
Along with spurring the expansion of giant salvinia, the water
hyacinth has
an impact in an area many people may not even realize is affected.
"We learned that water hyacinth is not only a nuisance ...
displacing
habitats, it's a water consumer and not just the water that is bound
up in
the plant. A plant is 97 percent water, so all that stuff you're
looking at
(on top of the water) not only is that supposed to be open water,
the water
in that plant is supposed to be in that water basin."
Also, as water hyacinth "breathes" through transpiration - it
breathes water
into the atmosphere - causing it to consume three times more water
than
would be lost to normal evaporation of open water. explained Canson.
"What is comes down to is in the last six months Caddo Lake lost as
much as
15,000 acre-feet of water that it would not have lost if those
three-thousand acres had not had water hyacinth on them. The total
is about
twenty-one thousand acre-feet with evaporation and water hyacinth
together.
The lake only loses about six-thousand acre-feet of water to
evaporation."
This combined total loss of water has made officials look at the
water
hyacinth problem with new eyes.
"We've always looked at it in ecological terms, but it turns out
there are
scientifically valid studies that indicate it's an economical
problem as
well. Dr. (T.L.) Arsuffi (director of the Llano River Field Station)
said
the most economic means of developing new water supplies in Texas
right now
would be to clean up the aquatic plants. People are just now coming
to
realize what the hard economic cost of the invasive aquatic plants
are and
nobody anywhere believes that we are not going to need more water
next year
and the year after," said Canson.
Over the past year, residents in and around Caddo Lake have lead a
clean-up
effort against the invasive species attacking the lake that has
gained state
and national attention.
"One of the reasons we get more attention is we have local people
doing
stuff. Like building that fence out there, they don't wait as most
of these
communities do for the government to come in. What local efforts do
and the
reason they are so important is, if you don't have local effort then
you
aren't moving the politicians forward and not getting the funds for
the
problem and that's what it's all about," said Canson.
Getting those funds has been the hard part, but with the help of
Harrison
County Judge Richard Anderson and U.S. Rep Louie Gohmert, Caddo Lake
is
about to see a major change.
"People are going to see a different situation at Caddo Lake next
spring,
with serious equipment and serious manpower. Congressman Gohmert and
Richard
(Anderson) have been fantastic in pulling together the resources.
This is
going to be a $700,000 plan. We are talking about adding two boats
and four
full-time crew members to work 365 days a year on the Louisiana side
and a
new air-boat and three full-time people on the Texas side. A really
incredible plan," said Canson.
The funds are only the beginning and according to Canson, Caddo Lake
will
serve as an example for others who want to stand up and protect
their lakes
for the hard fight ahead.
"We want to encourage locals to create their own way to capture
water
hyacinth and plan to help underwrite the costs of implementing the
design on
Caddo and other lakes facing the same problems. We hope to formalize
all
this stuff into a project called Shoreline Watch and export it to
other
communities that are near water bodies.
"No matter what we do next year, and we are going to do a lot, we
are in for
several really, really tough years. There is no question about it."
