A lengthy process to obtain state and federal permits to build the lake near Ladonia in Fannin County faces Upper Trinity Regional Water District before a final decision can be made to proceed with construction. Bezanson’s comment may signal that getting approval to build the lake could be difficult.

Upper Trinity officials have projected that construction could take place within the next 10 years.

The district can expect to face major opposition along the way by TCNR and several other organized groups, including the City of Flower Mound in Denton County.

“Texas Committee on Natural Resources is opposed to building any lake that is not needed for water supply,” said Bezanson. “The water providers in the Dallas, Fort Worth and North Texas area could tap any number of existing underused water supply sources to meet their future water demands.”

She said the proposed 11,200-acre lake “would provide only a small fraction of the future water demand for the DFW-North Texas area at a very high cost per unit of water.”

Projected cost for lake construction stands at $200 million, according to Upper Trinity officials.

Flower Mound City Council opposes the lake’s construction based on costs, according to a Web site established to fight Ralph Hall Lake construction.

City officials contend there are less expensive ways to meet Upper Trinity’s long range water needs. The city is a major consumer of Upper Trinity water.

Upper Trinity serves more than 30 communities, mostly in Denton and Collin counties. Flower Mound is the only municipality to formally oppose the lake.

Tim Taylor, the water district’s executive director, sees cost projections differently.

“Ralph Hall would be the cheapest alternative available to us,” Taylor said, explaining that the district could tap into an existing water pipe from Lake Cooper, which currently supplies Upper Trinity.

“Water costs are estimated at $1.10 per $1,000 gallons of water for Ralph Hall,” Taylor said. “That cost would drop to 17 cents once bonds are paid off.”

For comparison, he noted projected water costs to Upper Trinity from the proposed and controversial Marvin Nichols Reservoir at $1.26 and from Lake Palestine at $2.20 and Lake Fork at $2.

Upper Trinity works closely with the state’s Region C group responsible for water planning for a 16-county area around Dallas. Fannin County is the most northeasterly county in Region C.

The water district passed its first hurdle in early April when the state’s Region C water planning group moved Lake Ralph Hall from an alternate to designated lake in the initial draft of its regional plan.

That plan is expected to be published in June for public review and then submitted to the Texas Water Development Board in January where the plan undergoes further review. The state’s regional planning groups have no permit-granting authority.

Public meetings are to be scheduled during the regional plan review process.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality must also approve a Lake Ralph Hall water rights application, which was submitted in September 2003.

Upper Trinity received notification that the application was administratively complete in August 2004, according to Taylor. Geotechnical, environmental and archeological studies are to be submitted to the commission. Engineers are currently working at the proposed lake site to finalize TCEQ reports.

Taylor said he anticipates the commission will schedule public meetings early next year. One of those meetings is to be held in Fannin County and one in Denton County, according to TCEQ policies that require meetings be held in the county of water origin and the county that is to receive water.

Upper Trinity must also obtain federal environmental protection permits, which require intensive research and public input.

“The entire process could take seven or eight years,” Taylor said Thursday. “The final decision whether to proceed or delay construction will be made after state and federal permits are approved.”

Taylor said the latest economic and projected population data available at the time the permit process is complete will be taken into consideration before Upper Trinity makes a decision to build the lake or to delay its construction.