Texas
Opponents tell North Texas leaders to drop any plans for ‘flawed’ Marvin Nichols Reservoir
PITTSBURG – Roughly 200 people descended upon a regional water meeting in northeast Texas on Wednesday afternoon with “Stop Marvin Nichols” signs, custom T-shirts and handwritten speeches.
Nearly 40 attendees looked officials in the eyes and repeated the same sentiment: The proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir project needs to be removed from all future water plans.
The meeting, lasting about four hours in Camp County, was specially called by the Region D water planning group whose jurisdiction includes the land that would be used to build the 66,000-acre reservoir to pump water more than 100 miles to North Texas. Some Region C water officials, who are part of the group calling for the project that would benefit the North Texas area, were also in attendance.
At one point, Region D chairman Jim Thompson sat beside Region C chairman Kevin Ward at the front of the room.
Ward talked about Marvin Nichols being just one of the many alternatives that leaders are looking at to meet water needs in North Texas and said having the project in the plan isn’t a “green light” to start developing but rather a placeholder for if it’s needed in the future. He noted the permitting process could take decades to complete.
He said he doesn’t know of any other strategy in the state that’s had so many studies and analysis completed, calling the reservoir a “lightning rod for the entire state of Texas.” He said the voice of northeast Texans has been heard far and wide.
“All these years it’s been heard in the halls of the Legislature down in Austin, it’s been heard by your state representatives here, by your senators and by those members out there in Region C as well,” Ward said. “We’ve heard it so you’ve got to believe that if we thought there was another way to do what we’re trying to do right now … we’d certainly latch onto it as fast as we could.”
Much of the crowd was attentive but unsympathetic. Thompson responded later in the meeting, reiterating that he is willing to work together to find additional supplies in the Region D area that could help Region C.
“That does not, in my opinion, in any way, form or fashion mean that I’m going to agree to Marvin Nichols because I never am,” Thompson said. “It’s a flawed project. It should not go forward. It should be removed from the state water plan.”
A majority in the room applauded Thompson’s comment. The men eventually shook hands before Ward took a seat in the audience and Thompson presided over the 38 public comments made about the plan.
For decades, Region C water planners in North Texas have suggested the reservoir is one of the best solutions to quench Dallas-Fort Worth’s growing water needs that continues to increase as its population continues to grow.
Discussions around the project have occurred since the 1960s when it was first included in the state water plan but are being revamped as the regional groups prepare their latest plans, which are completed every five years. Tensions began boiling in the last 20-some years as the need for water in North Texas became even more apparent with the population boom.
Many, including Ward, said Wednesday’s meeting drew the largest crowd of any Marvin Nichols meeting they’d been to in the last couple decades.
Proponents for the manmade lake have recently called for it to be online by 2050 and a recent estimate put the cost at $7 billion. The Texas Water Development Board recently completed a review of the project, concluding that it was feasible.
Those opposed to the project – including residents in portions of Red River, Franklin and Titus counties whose generational land, homes, churches and cemeteries where their family members are buried would be flooded – have spoken out against the reservoir repeatedly, including at a Region C meeting in Arlington at the end of September.
Photos: Northeast Texas residents pack public meeting to speak out in opposition to proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir
They’ve said the project would destroy their small, rural communities that are made up of blue-collar workers who are the backbone of not only Texas but the U.S. They also say the negative impacts of the project beyond where its footprint would be haven’t been adequately portrayed, including detrimental effects to the Rivercrest ISD and thriving timber industry.
“Here we are again,” Gary Cheatwood Jr., 48, told the water planners. Cheatwood’s family has been in the Red River County community called Cuthand for more than a century and throughout his entire adult life he’s watched his dad, 85-year-old Gary Cheatwood, battle the reservoir plans.
Cheatwood said in the decade or so he’s been speaking at meetings, he typically talks about data and numbers but he chose to switch up his approach Wednesday. Instead, he talked about his dreams of living in Cuthand and a desire of continuing to raise his kids there.
Those hopes are something that can’t be taken from him, he said, adding that he won’t leave. “Amen,” someone from the audience said before people applauded. Cheatwood said the deal was a land grab before anything else.
“I will sit on my land until I’m dead or Jesus comes back, whichever comes first,” he said.
A handful of other residents in the area that would be drowned agreed that they would be either buried on the land or taken off it in a body bag but giving it up for the reservoir wasn’t an option.
More than a dozen people referred to the project as “thievery,” “theft” or “stealing.” One man called it “interregional imperialism” and a woman compared the fight to David and Goliath.
Though a lot of the public commenters were familiar faces who have been traveling to meetings across the state for decades, others said they recently learned about the project and felt compelled to speak up.
Tawnya Cagle, 50, said her family moved from Rockwall to northeast Texas in 2017 and had never heard of the Marvin Nichols Reservoir.
“There are people who are literally pouring their foundations right now and they know nothing about this,” she said. “So imagine our surprise when we came out here.”
Now, as she’s learned more, she’s joining the movement to call for the project to be scrapped.
“It’s about our kids and our grandkids and our legacy we want to leave them,” Cagle said.
Photos: Residents in the Sulphur River Basin fear their land will be inundated if Marvin Nichols Reservoir in northeast Texas is built
Some Region D members also voiced concerns.
One called for more active water conservation in Dallas-Fort Worth, comparing it to not buying more cattle if there’s not enough grass. Another called for Region C to look elsewhere for water, like the Gulf of Mexico.
Robert Hurst, of Delta County, said he grew up in North Texas so he appreciates the water needs but wanted to make one thing clear.
“Frankly, it’s growing out our way too,” he said. “We need the water, too. Y’all are not the only ones.”
He said his county is also planning what it’s going to do to handle the expanding population.
“We’re not trying to be ornery but we’re trying to self preserve and we all need our land, we need our water and we’re going to be seeing the growth you’re seeing also,” Hurst said.
The Texas Rangers and veteran outfielder Andrew McCutchen agreed to a minor league contract on Thursday, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press.
The person confirmed the agreement to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract had not been finalized and a physical exam still needed to be completed. The 39-year-old McCutchen would make $1.5 million this season while playing in the major leagues if he’s added to the 40-man roster, the person said.
McCutchen has three weeks of spring training to show the Rangers he’s worth a spot. They’re well-positioned in the outfield with rising standouts Wyatt Langford in left field and Evan Carter in center field and veteran newcomer Brandon Nimmo in right field.
Still, Carter was limited by injuries to 63 games in 2025, so depth is a concern that McCutchen could help alleviate. His right-handed bat could also serve as a natural complement at the designated hitter spot, where left-handed hitter Joc Pederson is slated for the bulk of the playing time.
McCutchen played the last three seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the club that drafted him in the first round in 2005 and promoted him in 2009 for his major league debut. McCutchen played his first nine years in MLB with the Pirates, making five straight All-Star teams and winning the 2013 National League MVP award while becoming one of the most popular players in that franchise’s history.
McCutchen bounced around with four other teams between 2018 and 2022, before reuniting with the Pirates. He played in 135 games last season, with 13 home runs, 57 RBIs and a .700 OPS. When the Pirates reported to spring training last month, general manager Ben Cherington publicly kept the door open to bringing back McCutchen, but the signing of veteran Marcell Ozuna effectively eliminated a spot on their roster for him.
“No matter what, Andrew’s a Pirate and certainly our desire will be to continue to have a really strong relationship with him into the future, whatever that looks like,” Cherington said then.
AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — James Talarico did not mention Donald Trump when he greeted exuberant supporters at his primary night celebration.
But the newly minted Democratic U.S. Senate nominee in Texas is now a front man for the political opposition to the Republican president, not just in his own state but around the country. With his victory over U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, the state lawmaker from Austin will test whether a smiling message of unity and change is enough to answer voters’ frustrations amid discord at home and now a war abroad.
READ MORE: What to watch in the consequential Senate primaries in Texas
“We are not just trying to win an election,” Talarico told supporters in the Texas capital early Wednesday. “We are trying to fundamentally change our politics, and it’s working.”
The campaign provided “Love thy Neighbor” signs to people in the crowd.
The question for Talarico as he heads into the general election campaign is whether he can generate enthusiasm from voters who opted for Crockett because they saw her as the more aggressive fighter against Trump. Crockett conceded to Talarico on Wednesday morning, saying that “Texas is primed to turn blue and we must remain united because this is bigger than any one person.”
Talarico will need all the help he can get in a Republican-dominated state where Democrats have gone decades without winning a statewide race. He will face either U.S. Sen. John Cornyn or state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who advanced to a Republican runoff on Tuesday.
Conventional political wisdom has it that Talarico was the stronger Democratic candidate in November, especially if Republicans nominate Paxton, a conservative firebrand who has weathered allegations of corruption and infidelity over the years.
WATCH: What’s at stake for Democrats and Republicans in the Texas Senate primaries
Although Democrats are often choosing between moderate and progressive candidates in primaries, they faced a largely stylistic choice in Texas.
Talarico, 36, is a Presbyterian seminarian who quotes Scripture and rarely raises his voice. Crockett, 44, is an unapologetic political brawler who hammers Trump and other Republicans with acidic flourish.
Both have been reliably progressive votes in their current roles and telegenic faces across cable news and social media. Both represent generational change for a party with aging leadership. Each called for a more equitable economy and society. Each talked about bringing sporadic voters into their coalitions.
But Talarico’s broader argument is one that he could have made regardless of whether Trump was in the White House. Talarico’s campaign, he said often, is about addressing a country whose fundamental divide is not partisan but “top vs. bottom.” He regularly assails the rise in Christian nationalism. A former teacher, he has advocated for public education –- and against Texas conservatives’ policies to restrict curriculum and reshape how U.S. history is taught.
“He’s just a good friend and he’s a serious advocate for the disenfranchised and a serious policymaker,” said Lea Downey Gallatin, 40, an Austin resident who became friends with Talarico when they interned together for a congressman.
Crockett promised Democrats that she could increase turnout within the party’s base, while Talarico campaigned on the theory that he could pull new people into the party’s tent.
“I can’t tell you how many have come up to me, whispering that they’re not a Democrat,” Talarico said as he campaigned in San Antonio in the closing days of the primary campaign. “I can’t tell you how many young people have said it’s the first time that they’ve ever voted, and that they are participating for the first time.”
As he strolled through the city, Talarico posed for pictures and greeted the singer of a Tejano band playing nearby. He later spoke to hundreds of people at the historic Stable Hall, a 130-year-old circular structure built for showing horses and now a converted event center. Hundreds more, unable to get into the full event, wound around the corner and along the sidewalk for blocks.
Inside, Lori Alvarez, a 39-year-old who works for a disaster relief nonprofit, said she supported Talarico because “he really listens to what we need.”
“I think he’s going to be able to make change in Washington for us,” said the married mother of three young girls.
Yet that was not what attracted so many voters to Crockett.
Troy Burroughs, a 61-year-old Navy retiree, called Crockett “rugged” and “the only one I see fighting for us.”
He added: “I like how she doesn’t back down from anybody.”
Burroughs said some voters probably saw Talarico as more electable because he is more soft-spoken. But, he said, “We’ve got to get into the gutter with these folks, because that’s where they are.”
Talarico, meanwhile, keeps fighting his own way.
“Tonight, the people of our state gave this country a little bit of hope,” he said Tuesday, “and a little bit of hope is a dangerous thing.”
Barrow reported from Atlanta, Figueroa from Austin, Texas, and Beaumont from San Antonio.
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