Tarrant Regional Water delays changes to authority that worried Fort Worth, developers
The Tarrant Regional Water District will take longer to hear public comment on proposed changes to its governance that perplexed Fort Worth City Hall.
Proposed revisions to the document outlining the district’s authority appear to greatly extend the Tarrant Regional Water District’s influence over development and General Manager Jim Oliver’s power. Worried about the language in the General Ordinance, Fort Worth city staff, including the city attorney, met with water district officials Aug. 24. The water district board planned to vote on the revisions Sept. 15, but will extend public comment through November.
Tarrant Regional Water District did not directly inform any of its partner agencies, including Fort Worth, which buys raw water from the district, about the proposed changes. After a meeting Aug. 24, City Manager David Cooke and water district environmental director Woody Frossard said they were hopeful uncertainty about the proposal would be worked out.
Frossard told the Star-Telegram the revisions were purely about water quality and an effort to update the ordinance to include requirements the district established in 2018. The geographic footprint of the district’s authority over land use, about 2,500 acres, was not going to change, he said.
Revisions define the district’s service area as anywhere where it delivers raw water, an 11-county area that includes Tarrant, Denton and Parker counties.
The new ordinance adds a paragraph granting the water district authority to “regulate privileges on any land, easement or property interest adjoining a reservoir, stream, creek, tributary, river or other property owned or controlled by or subject to the jurisdiction of the District, including prevention of activities on adjoining land, easements, watercourses or property interests that could adversely affect the purity of water in this state.”
The language is unclear about exactly where the district’s authority stops and ends, Cooke said.
Revisions also expand the role of the general manager to set and collect fees for licenses and permits.
“We appreciate the positive dialogue we have had with our stakeholders so far during this process,” water district president Jack Stevens said in a statement. “The District is committed to extending the comment period to ensure we have the feedback we need to make an informed decision on these proposed changes.”
The changes prompted to Kenneth Barr, president of the Real Estate Council of Greater Fort Worth, to pen a letter to Oliver requesting a 90-day delay and more public comment. Barr said many of the 400 members of the real estate council were confused by the district’s move.
“After preliminary review by several of our members, the REC conclusion is many of the proposed Ordinance revisions could have significant impact on current and future property use and could also cause harmful unintended consequences,” Barr wrote in the letter
During a Fort Worth City Council work session Tuesday, multiple council members, including Mayor Betsy Price, voiced frustration with how the water district rolled out the revisions. It was poor form to not notify partners like the city and the developer community, they said, while questioning the legality of the water district’s revised ordinance.
Councilman Dennis Shingleton called the water district’s proposal “significant overreach” and argued Tarrant Regional Water should stick to water supply and stay out of real estate development. Shingleton said there were “aspect of ... this smells a little funny” with developments possibly overstepping the city.
“I’m looking forward to the bell ringing and stepping into the ring on this one,” he said.
