Sabine River Authority advances plans to sell Toledo Bend water to Texas

MANY, Louisiana (KLTV) — The Sabine River Authority in Louisiana is taking new steps to build a case for selling water from Toledo Bend Reservoir to Texas investors.

On Thursday, the authority approved the hiring of a third-party engineering group to study the impact of water loss from the lake if a water sale were to go through. The SRA is looking to sell between 200,000 to 800,000 of acre-feet of water each year from their portion of Toledo Bend. That reservoir makes up much of the border between Texas and Louisiana. The water rights, including the rights to sell water, are shared equally between the two states.

Currently, the reservoir makes money through generating power through dams. Last year, they made $225,000 from power generation. However, the SRA says that by selling water instead of using it for generating power for profit, they could make more than seven million dollars per year.

“To sell it, it’s worth thirty times more,” explains Warren Founds, Executive Director of the Sabine River Authority in Louisiana. “If we can use less water and reallocate some water that’s typically used for generation and we can sell that and get that kind of revenue, I mean that’s worth looking into.”

Some people that made public comments at Thursday’s board meeting expressed concerns about how the sale would impact water levels at the reservoir. That concern is what ultimately prompted the hiring of a third party of engineers to conduct an impact study, both to verify the impact and strengthen public trust.

“We have a lot of people worried about the lake levels,” said Founds. “We fluctuate four feet, which is not big for a lake, but it does put some people in low water situations. That’s the big issue. I think people question whether or not the river authority can manage a water sale and power generation and still maintain these levels that they’re comfortable using in Toledo Bend.”

The engineering impact study is expected to be complete by the end of this year. The Sabine River Authority doesn’t plan to sell the water until sometime next year at the earliest. That’s only if the SRA gets sale approval from both Louisiana state officials and parishes that neighbor the reservoir.

Their next meeting is October 23rd.

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