Fort Worth Public Artfully Wraps Ugly Except For Outhouses

Eagle Eyed Elsie Hotpepper pointed me to this interesting tidbit of Fort Worth news about some new Fort Worth public art.

Fort Worth public art, paid for via a 2% fee charged to a Fort Worth public works project, is a bit controversial of late, due to a visually distracting traffic eyesore that cost nearly a million dollars and sits in the middle of one of America's Biggest Boondoggle's traffic roundabouts, installed well before the construction of the roundabout was completed.

Some have questioned whether America's Biggest Boondoggle qualifies for the 2% public arts deal, due to the fact that the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island Vision is a quasi-public works project that is the feeble brainchild of a quasi-public agency known as the Tarrant Regional Water District.

Another reason for the validity of the 2% public arts deal being in question, regarding The Boondoggle getting funds for such, is the fact that the public has never voted on any aspect of this imaginary public works project, nor has the public been allowed to participate in any sort of public hearings regarding same, in any meaningful way.

The new works of public art which Elsie Hotpepper pointed me to is detailed in the following three paragraphs....

COMING SOON: Fort Worth Public Art is also looking for local artists to create 14 artwork images for traffic control cabinets on East Lancaster Avenue. Houston already has these fancy boxes around the city.

The idea is to make art out of drab, ugly boxes that house traffic signal controls.

“These structures provide an opportunity for the city of Fort Worth to poetically invest in its utility infrastructure,” FWPA explains on its website. “The artist designed wraps will contribute to a growing collection of public art blossoming along the corridor that connect different neighborhoods along the way.”

______________________________________

I have never noticed ugly traffic control boxes in need of an aesthetic covering. Have you?

However, in many of Fort Worth's public parks I have noticed an ugly item which might benefit from an artistic cover.

Outhouses.

Fort Worth has more outhouses in more public parks than any other major city in America.

America's Biggest Boondoggle sort of  pretties up the outhouses located at its imaginary world class music venue called Panther Island Pavilion, where there is no island or pavilion, but there are outhouses shrouded in concrete enclosures, slightly mitigating the eyesore aspect.

Wouldn't covering Fort Worth's army of outhouses in colorful wraps be a good use of public art funds? And a lot more people would see this "art" than those who might notice artfully disguised traffic control boxes.....

Lake Washington Used To Be A Polluted Mess Like The Trinity River But It Got Cleaned Up

Yesterday I found myself Wondering Why So Many Fort Worth Locals Think Tubing Polluted Water With Gators Is Fun, during which I found myself reading the Wikipedia article about Lake Washington.

The Wikipedia article about Lake Washington had one paragraph that detailed in greater detail than I knew or remembered of how Lake Washington was restored to being a lake full of clean, clear water, safe for swimming and home to a lot of tasty fish.

Below is the paragraph I am talking about, under a heading of Water Purity...

Water Purity
Around 1900, Seattle began discharging sewage into Lake Washington. During the 1940s and 1950s, eleven sewage treatment plants were sending state-of-the-art treated water into the lake at a rate of 20 million gallons per day. At the same time, phosphate-based detergents came into wide-use. The lake responded to the massive input of nutrients by developing unpleasant blooms of noxious blue-green algae. The water lost its clarity, the desirable fish populations declined, and masses of dead algae accumulated on the shores of the lake. Citizen concern led to the creation of a system that diverted the treatment-plant effluents into nearby Puget Sound, where tidal flushing would mix them with open-ocean water. The diversion was complete by 1968, and the lake responded quickly. The algal blooms diminished, the water regained its clarity, and by 1975, recovery was complete. Careful studies by a group of limnologists from the University of Washington showed that phosphate was the culprit. Since then, Lake Washington has undergone major improvements, drastically improving the ecology and water quality, making the water twice as clear as it was in 1950.

Now, this is what I am thinking.

Here in Fort Worth, where there is no body of water twice as clear as it was in 1950, we have this entity called the Tarrant Regional Water District and its foster child known as America's Biggest Boondoggle, that being the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island Vision Boondoggle, holding floating events in the Trinity River at a location they call Panther Island Pavilion, where there is no island or pavilion.

Spokesmen for America's Biggest Boondoggle, via their Panther Island Pavilion Facebook page, have propaganda-ized that getting wet in the Trinity River is no different than getting wet in your drinking water, what with your drinking water coming from the same source, that being Lake Eagle Mountain and Benbrook Lake. The PIP propaganda neglects to mention, however, that the water that comes out of your tap has been treated, unlike the water the Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats take place in.

If the Panther Island Pavilion Propagandists think the Rockin' the River water is as clean as drinking water, how about a publicity photo of all of them drinking a glass of water fresh out of the river. With chief PIP Propagandist, J.D. Granger, taking the first gulp.

With America's Biggest Boondoggle stalled in slow motion from its original goal of altering the course of the Trinity River, creating some sort of waterfront feature that will somehow spur economic development, but which has morphed into multiple variations of beer parties, some on dry land, some in water, is it not time to do some serious priority assessment?

Such as, why not make the #1 priority cleaning up the Trinity River, like Lake Washington was cleaned up? Figure out what causes the spike in e.coli when the temperature rises and fix it.

Again, why is that not the priority?

Recently I read a PIP Apologist opine something along the line that for years now critics have been whining that America's Biggest Boondoggle should not be encouraging people to get in that polluted river, when the fact of the matter is that over the years of The Boondoggle boondoggling thousands of people have gotten wet in that water without growing a third nipple or having their hair fall out.

So, I guess as long as no one comes out of the Trinity with an extra nipple or bald, all is good and it is totally aesthetically pleasing to get into that murky brown water where you can not see what is swimming with you, be it a turtle, a snake, a gator or a plume of cow manure.....

Grand Jury Investigation Of Tarrant Regional Water District Wrongdoing Allegations

The water seems to be getting hotter for the Tarrant Regional Water District. Or, to use a cliche other than the TRWD is in hot water, it seems some rogue chickens are finally coming home to roost.

During the last TRWD board election at one point I opined that the TRWD board cockroaches seemed to be in full flight from the light mode. I recollect some Dallas news source using my cockroach analogy as an indicator of how vitriolic the usually sedate water board election had become.

I opined way back then that there must be some dirty deeds in need of hiding, else wise why would the TRWD be refusing so many open records requests.

I also remember opining that if I were making a TRWD open records request I would like to see all the documentation covering the decision to hire Congresswoman Kay Granger's totally unqualified son, J.D., to be the Executive Director of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

And now it has come to pass that legal means, in the form of a Grand Jury, is going to be looking into the allegations of TRWD wrongdoing.

A couple paragraphs from an article in yesterday's Monitor titled Gooden asks Grand Jury to look into allegations against TRWD...

GUN BARREL CITY–The Henderson County Grand Jury has been asked to look into allegations of wrongdoing by Tarrant Regional Water District. Outgoing Dist. 4 State Rep. Lance Gooden told those attending the November luncheon of the Cedar Creek Lake Area Chamber of Commerce that he testified in September on the matter.

Gooden said he strongly suspects wrongdoing and a cover up because his repeated Open Records requests for basic accounting documentation have gone unfulfilled and been repeatedly responded to by letters from lawyers.

“I’ve turned in open record requests in March and they have stonewalled me since then,” he told The Monitor Monday.

I have an inkling that we are about to be witness to an unraveling of a conspiracy to cover up TRWD wrongdoing which may eventually lead to the demise of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

I may be overreaching. Or I may not be......

Apparently Breitbart Is Back Rooting Out Corruption At The Tarrant Regional Water District

This afternoon I came upon an interesting article in the Star Telegraph blog. Please note that that is Star Telegraph, not Star Telegram, to which I am referring.

The Star Telegraph blog post was titled Breitbart's back.

Breitbart's back is not about some guy named Breitbart's back problems.

Breitbart's back is about the problem with the entity known as the Tarrant Regional Water District.

The somewhat controversial publication known as Breitbart has been investigating the controversially corrupt entity known as the Tarrant Regional Water District.

In Breitbart's latest edition you can read an article titled ROOTING OUT CORRUPTION AT THE TARRANT REGIONAL WATER DISTRICT which roots out, in easy to understand language, why those who know corruption when they see it look at the shenanigans of the Tarrant Regional Water District in amazement that those shenanigans continue with no adults intervening and putting a stop to the bad behavior.

Or maybe this fester of corruption needs a federal intervention with the perps rounded up, handcuffed and jailed. Pending trial. Maybe that will come after the 60 Minutes expose.

I have long thought Fort Worth would benefit from a good hard hitting 60 Minutes expose.

My favorite paragraph in the Breitbart  article was this...

The move comes in support of reform-minded Board Member, Mary Kelleher, who believes the documents contain potentially incriminating information regarding the TRWD’s alleged misuse of public funds, cronyism, and numerous other activities surrounding what is known as the “Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.”

I like to believe that it was I who first attached the "Boondoggle" word to the Trinity River Vision. But, I suspect that is not the case, what with the Trinity River Vision so obviously being a boondoggle, attaching that appellation to it likely crossed the minds of dozens of locals appalled at the ridiculousness of the entire bizarre thing.

Including the TRWD's corrupt hiring of Fort Worth Congresswoman Kay Granger's un-qualified son, J.D., to run the massive pseudo public works project which the public has never been allowed to vote on. Hiring an un-qualified relative of a political power, for a government job, is what is known as nepotism, and is frowned upon, or is outright illegal, in areas of the world where democracy has been established.

Also, regarding the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, Laurence Meyers, the writer of the ROOTING OUT CORRUPTION AT THE TARRANT REGIONAL WATER DISTRICT article, must not have gotten the memo that due to imaginary public input the name of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle has been officially changed to the Panther Island Boondoggle.

The name change thing  is just one more boondoggly addition to the ongoing embarrassing boondoggle...

I Am Not Pardoning The Lack Of Trinity River Improvement Progress By The TRWD

If you visit the downtown Fort Worth campus of Tarrant County College's non-Radio Shack related iteration you may find yourself drawn to the Trinity River via a long, inviting staircase.

At the bottom of those stairs you will find yourself looking at the sign you see here.

This signage is brought to you by the fine folks at the Tarrant Regional Water District, who ask you, via this sign, to "Pardon our Progress" while they improve the river one project at a time.

If I remember right I have used the word "hubris" is association with these TRWD people previously.

The sign additionally informs us that...

"The Tarrant Regional Water District is working hard to make the connection between you and the Trinity Trail system as easy as possible. With this new trail extension not only TCC students, but all of downtown Fort Worth will have even more trail access for that morning run or evening bike ride!"

This new trail extension, which this sign proudly trumpets, is actually the covering with asphalt of the pre-exiting dirt path connecting the Trinity Trail to that aforementioned TCC stairway.

And why does this short trail of asphalt require this self-serving bit of propaganda? Really, why?

I have been appalled by the bizarre TRWD and Trinity River Vision Boondoggle signage for years now.

How much has all this superfluous signage cost the taxpayers?

What is the purpose of these sign advertisements? Is it to try and convince voters that the TRWD and TRVB are actually getting something done?

But, there is no need to convince voters of anything, because voters do not get to vote on any of the TRWD/TRVB projects.

But, voters do vote for the Tarrant Regional Water District board members.

Is that the purpose of the signage? To propagandize positively for the TRWD, making voters think they need to vote for these people to continue this amazing progress with even more short distances of trail covered with fresh asphalt?

Quite perplexing.....

Fort Worth Weekly Goes In To Deep Waters Over The TRWD Controversies

This week's Fort Worth Weekly cover article is titled Deep Waters, Records reveal cozy relationships at the Tarrant Regional Water District.

Reading the article I was quite pleased to finally see someone using the "N" word in regards to the shenanigans of the TRWD.

The "N" word of which I speak is Nepotism.

Just last week I was verbalizing my perplexation regarding the seeming disregard regarding nepotism in Fort Worth, asking if the principle that nepotism is an unethical bad thing was a Yankee concept alien to the South.

The FW Weekly Deep Waters article has many interesting pieces of information. I'll copy and paste a couple blurbs that I found interesting.

The first blurb has to do with the TRWD's controversial Jim Oliver....

In 2006 the Weekly reported that Oliver had run up bills of more than $10,000 on his water district credit card at eateries, bars, and a private club between October 2003 and November 2005. None of the receipts complied with the water district’s expense policy. On some, there were no names for those covered by the payment, and on others there was no stated business purpose.

So, 7 years ago Jim Oliver was caught with his hand in the water district's credit card cookie jar to the tune of over $10,000? And he was not fired? I have been told of another instance of Oliver being caught flagrante delicto and not fired, but using public funds as his private piggy bank and still retaining his job is very perplexing.

And then there is this blurb with interesting verbiage from TRWD board member, Jim Lane...

“People have this board confused with city hall and the legislature,” Lane added, “This is an old quasi-government body that is there to provide water to a Metroplex that is booming. I don’t know why this has turned into something so controversial.”

So, Jim Lane is saying the TRWD is there to provide water to a booming Metroplex? Which leads one to wonder, if the TRWD's sole mission is to provide water, why is it in the economic development business?

Building a wakeboard lake, a restaurant, helping facilitate the building of a drive-in movie theater and sponsoring inner tubing beer parties at an imaginary island with an imaginary pavilion in the world's finest imaginary waterfront music venue.

Are the wakeboard lake, restaurant, drive-in movie theater and inner tubing beer parties bringing in a lot of water to the booming Metroplex one can not help but wonder.

Someone named Johns made a rather cogent comment regarding FW Weekly's Deep Waters article, which said, in part....

If there’s one thing the TRWD is good at (and it’s certainly not increasing/improving our water supply) – it’s galvanizing support against it. From Democrats to Republicans to Libertarians to Tea Partiers – heck, to the Supreme Court, there’s always a confluence of support against the poor management, power grabs, eminent domain abuses and corruption displayed by this organization. In any other town, the ‘water district’ has a ‘sleepy/low profile board” – but, in Fort Worth, the Water District Board means drama, graft, abuse, violation of open meeting laws, secrecy, nepotism – the list goes on and on. Let’s hope Mary Kelleher won’t be the lone voice of dissent on the board for long!

Walking With The Village Creek Indian Ghosts Thinking About Replacing Kay Granger With Wendy Davis, Mary Kelleher Or Elsie Hotpepper

At noon today I took a short break from my maniacal website upgrading to go for a walk in the jungle with the Indian ghosts who haunt the Village Creek Natural Historical Area in Arlington.

Seems like I was at this same location yesterday. Because I was. With the difference between yesterday and today being today I was in bi-pedal mode of the walking type.

Before I left my abode to go on a walk I heard from a fairly reliable source that today's Tarrant Regional Water District board meeting was having the board faced, once again, with a full house. And that full house was full of questions for the board members.

Questions that likely had board member Marty Leonard, she being the Fort Worth Dowager Heiress well known for clutching her pearls, clutching her pearls.

I wonder if any questions were asked about Jim Oliver's bad boy behavior, or about J.D. Granger.

Last week, or was it the week before, I read a very amusing paragraph that mentioned both Jim Oliver and J.D.Granger in an article written by Clyde Picht in the Fort Worth Business Press....

Needing a director for the TRVA with high qualifications – someone versed in construction, engineering and hydrology, to name a few essential skills – the water district’s general manager, Jim Oliver, went for the best. This being potentially a billion dollar project, Oliver zeroed in on the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office and found a tier 4 law school graduate working as an assistant DA. Selecting J.D. Granger to head TRVA was rather fortuitous because his mother, Kay Granger, happened to be a member of Congress and federal money was required for the key requirement of building a bypass channel and dams and hydraulic locks and all the really expensive stuff.

Succinctly stated like Clyde Picht stated it, one can not help but wonder how it is that the hiring of J.D. Granger, to do a job for which he had zero qualifications, is not some sort of crime of the punishable by fine and jail time sort?

And isn't it time for increasingly blue Fort Worth and environs, home of Wendy Davis, to replace Kay Granger with someone less, well, Kay Granger-ish?

I can think of three good Kay Granger replacements. Those being Wendy Davis, Mary Kelleher or Elsie Hotpepper.

Why Did I Get My Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Summer Update In The Middle Of Spring?

What with everyone knowing that summer is well under way, and what with an election coming up in a couple days, which may greatly impact its fate, of course, in my mailbox this morning of May 9, it makes perfectly good sense that I would find VOLUME  VII - ISSUE I - SUMMER 2013 of the TRINITY RIVER VISION UPDATE.

I can not imagine why, but this summer's TRV Boondoggle Update contains a lot of information about the Tarrant Regional Water District and all the amazing things that public agency is doing to improve water quality, mitigate flood dangers and guarantee a good supply of good water well into the next century.

I trust when you read the above two paragraphs you remembered to have your sarcasm detectors on.

The entire first page one sees when one opens this TRV Boondoggle Update is devoted to "TRWD Around Town."

We learn that the TRWD has solved that extremely serious problem of people getting lost on the Trinity Trails. I am sure, like me, you have lost track of the number of stories you've read about people getting hopelessly lost on the confusing maze of Trinity Trails.

The first paragraph about the "Signs of Improvement Along the Trinity River"...

Thanks to the Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) the Trinity Trails are getting some fancy schmancy new signage! Last year signage was added  that educated users how to access the Trinity Trails. Now that you can get there, signage is being added to help you navigate the trail system.

So, if I am understanding correctly, last year the TRWD educated trail users as to how to get  on to the Trinity Trails. Education like drive your car to a Trinity Trails parking lot, park, then walk to the clearly visible trail. But don't walk on the trail til next year when signage is added to help you navigate the terribly difficult to navigate Trinity Trail system?

The second paragraph about Trinity River signs improvement is also amusing...

The 26 new trail map signs have been individually tailored to include specific details related to your current location as noted with new "You Are Here" markings. The new location specific maps will point out amenities that are closest to you such as water fountains, restrooms, fishing piers, canoe launches and more. The maps also include mile markers so you can easily identify how far you are from certain destinations.

Fishing piers? Where are the fishing piers on the Trinity River? I guess I can find out via these new signs. Restrooms? Are we talking about the outhouses by the Rockin' the River zone across from Panther Island?

Speaking of Panther Island. On page 2 of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Update there is the headline "Paving the way to Panther Island."

Under that headline there is this short paragraph...

Three signature V-pier bridges will go out for bid together this November. By packaging the three bridges together a tremendous amount of money will be saved. Construction is scheduled to begin this winter.

I think I have mentioned before that I am a big fan of propaganda.

Signature V-pier bridges? In the original version of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle there were to be 3 signature bridges, with "signature" at that time meaning bridges designed by world renowned bridge designers, such as those who designed the 3 signature bridges for the Dallas version of the Trinity River Vision, with one of the Dallas bridges already completed and looking quite impressive.

The TRV Boondoggle had to abandon its "signature" bridges when the price tag came in too high. Hence the three V-pier bridges that are being referred to as "signature" bridges.

So, the TRVB lost its original "signature" bridges to save money. And is now touting packaging these 3 V-pier bridges together as being a big money saver.

I believe these 3 non-signature bridges had to be added to the TRV Boondoggle when the un-needed flood diversion channel was added in order to help pretend the TRV Boondoggle was a flood control project, not an economic development project, and thus help with the getting of some federal money to help pay for the un-needed flood control, un-needed, due to the fact that levees built over a half a century ago, have prevented any flooding in the TRV Boondoggle zone.

Does everyone know what the word "hubris" means?

The TRWD Incumbent Cockroaches Throw Some Mud While Hiding From The Light

Last  night I was pre-warned I would find a bizarre  mailer in my mailbox this morning from the apparently increasingly desperate TRWD Incumbents.

Even though I was pre-warned, seeing the oversized, would not fit in my scanner, mailer, and its outrageous Orwellian propaganda, left me with the feeling of not knowing where to start with verbalizing my disgust for these miscreants who clearly need to be removed from any position involving public trust.

"A controversial Dallas millionaire is using a child actor to spread lies and throw mud at our hardworking local water board."

"DON'T LET OUTSIDERS STEAL OUR WATER!"

Steal our water?

Can these idiots get any more irresponsible with the unsubstantiated nonsense they are spewing? The TRWD Board  must have a really low opinion of the intelligence of those who vote, thinking that throwing the "Big Bad  Dallas" card was a great bit of propaganda.

"Don't be misled by the DISHONEST DALLAS HOGWASH from his (the rich Dallas millionaire's) handpicked SLATE of Water Board candidates: John Austin Basham, Timothy Nold and Mary Kelleher --- one has recently been bankrupt and doesn't live in the district and another is being sued for being a tax deadbeat."

No Dallas millionaire hand-picked Basham, Nold & Kelleher to clean up the clearly corrupt TRWD Board.

In the blog post titled The TRWD Election Propaganda Spewings Of Self-Entitled Dowager Heiress Marty Leonard I already explained the reality behind John Basham's bankruptcy and the moral bankruptcy apparent in the fact that Marty Leonard and her co-conspirators in character assassination would sink this low. What I did not mention in that blog post, because at that point in time I did not know the details, was that Timothy Nold was late paying his taxes because the inept TRWD was sending his tax bill to a vacant lot.

Which had the morally bankrupt Marty Leonard characterizing Nold as a tax deadbeat being sued by the TRWD.

Why did this latest mailer fail to also mention the shocking claim that one of the candidates, Mary Kelleher, has a meager voting record? That claim had the TRWD member, dowager heiress, Marty Leonard, in full clutch her pearls mode.

"These dirty candidates should move to Dallas and leave our local WATER ALONE!"

I am actually more than a little embarrassed for the TRWD Board. How humiliatingly insipid to spew this type stuff, which clearly indicates they can not make any sort of case for re-election based on their sorry record.

We are in Malice in Wonderland territory here, folks. We are Through the Looking Glass, where yes is no, truth is lie, clean is dirty, hard working is do nothing, stupid is smart, good is bad. Well, you get the picture.

"Throwing mud at our hard working Tarrant Regional Water Board?"

Throwing mud? What mud? Claiming the TRWD Board bought a luxury helicopter with leather seats? And that the Board uses this aircraft to fly to some sort of private hunting preserve?  I notice that the TRWD propagandizers are not denying the existence of the private hunting preserve, or using the helicopter to fly there. Now, if I were to fly in a helicopter to a private hunting preserve, I would consider this a luxury. Yeah, that is really dirty mud to point out the TRWD flies their luxury helicopter to their private hunting preserve.

Claiming to be hard working is like claiming to be deep thinking. We need some proof.

Are there examples of this corrupt TRWD Board working hard to mitigate the flash flood dangers in Haltom City that have been a deadly menace for decades?

The answer to the above question is NO.

How come the TRWD Board Incumbents make no mention of the hard work they've done on the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle?

Is there no mention made because after well over a decade all we can see of the Vision is a pathetic, soon likely to go out of business Cowtown Wakepark and the first drive-in movie theater to open in America in decades?

How come the TRWD Incumbents make no mention of their hard work that brought the Woodshed Smokehouse to the banks of the Trinity River.

The Woodshed Smokehouse, for you who don't know, is a restaurant, brought about by behind closed doors, secret shenanigans of the TRWD Board, in cahoots with their lapdog, J.D. Granger.

Apparently, in the TRWD Board's hard working world, building a restaurant on the banks of a river is part of their flood control, water quality mandate.

While little girls drown in flash floods in the area of the TRWD's responsibility.

A few days ago a source I consider reliable emailed me some documents with the text of the email saying, among many other things....

"A little bird tells me that someone very high up at the TRWD is talking to the reporter and is looking to "get ahead" of what the "new board" will find once they start digging. Turns out the internal finger pointing about illegalities is now beginning. I can't wait to read what all he has found."

I never saw a cockroach til I moved to Texas. Let alone see a herd of cockroaches run for cover when the lights come on.

Methinks soon after May 11 we are going to be seeing some metaphoric TRWD cockroaches running from the light....

Apparently Fixing The Tarrant Regional Water District Mess Is A Job For Captain Clean

This morning I opened my mailbox and learned that Captain Clean is cleaning out the pipes at the Tarrant Regional Water District.

Captain Clean thinks the Tarrant Regional Water District is a mess and only one man knows how to clean it up.

By day Captain Clean is just an ordinary mild-mannered plumber.

But, when water shortages lurk, with water pollution abounding, with the pipes of government becoming clogged from corruption and cronyism, Captain Clean goes into action and becomes Tarrant County's Greatest Super Hero.

Apparently Captain Clean has determined that the current Tarrant Regional Water District Board has failed us all miserably by jeopardizing our health and the quality of life of Tarrant County families.

Captain Clean has found himself some pipe cleaning allies to help him in his fight to protect our water and quality of life. Captain Clean wants you to elect John Basham, Timothy Nold and Mary Kelleher to the Tarrant Regional Water District Board. Voting to elect these three makes you one more Captain Clean ally.

You can learn all about the corruption on the TRWD Board by going to the Flush TRWD website where you'll find out about some of what the TRWD Board members have been doing with your money, such as...

Rather than taking our tax dollars and using them to improve water quality and seek long-term solutions to our water needs, they have instead spent our tax dollars on wasteful and luxurious perks for themselves and their friends.  For example, the board purchased a deer lease in Jack County for the exclusive recreational use of TRWD board members and employees. They also get around in a custom six-person helicopter, complete with leather interior.  Wouldn’t it be nice if they cared as much about our water as they do about the seats in their taxpayer-funded helicopter?

Before I forget, I must mention that Flush TRWD Vote for BNK is also on Facebook.

Back to Captain Clean and the Flush TRWD website, I found the following two paragraphs to be interesting...

One of our main water resources, the Trinity River, has become so polluted with toxins and dangerous bacteria that the Texas Department of State Health Services has declared all species of fish in it a “hazard to human health.”

But forget about eating the fish, it’s not even safe to swim in the Trinity River.  WFAA News recently reported that four out of five testing sites along the river in Fort Worth had dangerously high levels of E.Coli bacteria (from fecal matter) present; well above what the E.P.A. recommends as acceptable.  Water with such high levels of E.Coli can cause sickness just from swimming in it; including diarrhea and vomiting.

I am guessing that one of Captain Clean's goals is to put an end to the Trinity River Vision's Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats, until he can make the Trinity River safe for fish and human habitation.

Bud Kennedy Is Not Allowing Tarrant Regional Water District Candidate John Basham To Comment On Facebook

Bud Kennedy is just about my favorite Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist, journalist and food critic. Bud Kennedy is very prolific, very opinionated and very articulate.

Bud Kennedy is also prolific, opinionated and articulate on Facebook and Twitter.

Yesterday, on Facebook, Bud Kennedy informed us that Texas Representative Matt Krause has endorsed John Basham to be elected to be a board member of the Tarrant Regional Water District in the upcoming election.

Bud Kennedy also informed us that neither Krause or Basham "live in the district".

When I read this I thought to myself that I was fairly certain that John Basham lives in the Tarrant Regional Water District. Then when I read the comments to Bud Kennedy's posting I was reminded of how bizarrely strange the rules are regarding the set up of the Tarrant Regional Water District.

As in only voters who live in selected parts of the district are allowed to vote. And, even though you may live in the district you must own property in the selected parts of the district to qualify to run for TRWD Board Member.

Like I said, bizarrely strange.

Below is Bud Kennedy's post on this issue followed by the comments, with the last comment being from Bud Kennedy telling us he'd deleted a comment from John Basham because Bud Kennedy does not "allow candidates to campaign here." Apparently Bud Kennedy is allowed to make a comment about a candidate, but that candidate is not allowed to comment.  Like I said, bizarrely strange....

Bud Kennedy
17 hours ago via Twitter
Update: TX @RepMattKrause, who doesn't live in the Tarrant Water district, has endorsed @JohnBasham, who also doesn't live in the district.

Joe Corpening Dont ya love politics???

John Murrin Pritchett The law clearly states board members only need to own property in the boundaries of the TRWD's election boundaries. They don't have to live in it. The state rep mentioned in your post represents folks who live within the election boundaries of the district.

Bud Kennedy Did not question anyone's eligibility. In general, a board should represent those stakeholders taxed to build and operate the agency.

John Murrin Pritchett In general, a board with power over 11 counties ought to be accountable to the voters in those same 11 counties.

Bud Kennedy No representation without taxation.

Bud Kennedy Candidate's comment deleted. I generally don't allow candidates to campaign here, but John was pointing out that he owns a parcel of property in the district and also lives nearby in the area served by Tarrant Water. http://www.trwd.com/ServiceArea

Fort Worth's Mayor Betsy Price & Arlington's Mayor Cluck Think Congress Does Not Want A Water War

Today I learned there is a website "Where lawmakers come to blog" called The Hill's Congress Blog.

I did not know mayors are lawmakers or members of Congress.

Maybe they aren't.

But, for some reason Fort Worth's Mayor Betsy Price and Arlington's Mayor Robert Cluck have joined together to write a blog post titled Congress doesn't want a water war.

Apparently the Supreme Court is about to hear a water rights case in Tarrant Regional Water District v. Herrmann.

Regarding this, the mayors wrote...

With unprecedented peacetime deficits, massively underfunded entitlements, issues of war, peace and national security, Congress’s plate of big issues is full. But another giant helping of trouble may be coming after the high court hears Tarrant Regional Water District v. Herrmann, a case that will determine the future of interstate water rights.

The concerned citizen who emailed me about the Mayors' Blog, this morning, wondered what in the world "massively underfunded entitlements" are. Entitlements like what? Food stamps? Medicare? What entitlements are being massively underfunded? Pre-natal care in Texas? What?

The final paragraph of the Mayors' Blog succinctly sums up the problem...

So here is the problem — and it’s a big one. Water is the West’s single most critical and historically most fought-over resource. If the high court upholds the Tenth Circuit, who will be left to put back together sixty years of compacts? Only Congress. The fights could continue for decades.

The past 24 hours, water, and the Tarrant Regional Water District, have been coming across my radar screen. Yesterday I blogged about an FW Weekly article titled Liquid Power, about the TRWD and the upcoming board member election.

In the Liquid Power article we learn that Jack Stevens was the only current TRWD board member willing to talk to FW Weekly. Apparently Jack Stevens "praised the water district and the board for actively seeking new water supplies, including in Oklahoma and East Texas, and for promoting water conservation techniques."

And then TRWD board member Stevens said, “The Tarrant Regional Water District ought to be given a couple of gold stars for what they’ve done for conservation. The people of Fort Worth have really embraced conservation of water even without having the mandatory water restrictions. We have enough for quite a while, but we need more, and that’s what we’re doing.” 

The people of Fort Worth have embraced water conservation? Is this statement pulled from the same propaganda purveying service that claims things like a new Police & Fire Fighter Training Facility will make Fort Worth the Envy of the Nation. Or that Fort Worth is one of the World's Greatest Cities?

In the past year I have seen multiple water pipeline breaks flooding water into the creek that flows into Fort Worth's Fosdick Lake and into the creeks that flow through the Tandy Hills.

I do not see all that many Fort Worth lawnowners who water their lawns. More often I see lawns turn brown in summer.

With so much alleged TRWD concern about the water supply why has the TRWD sold millions upon millions of gallons of water to Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drillers, who mix the water with chemicals, then shoot it into the shale?

I think one of the many good reasons that the TRWD needs some new board members is those new board members, if they are John Basham, Mary Kelleher, and Timothy Nold, they will push for full transparency, full freedom of information.

If John Basham, Mary Kelleher, and Timothy Nold get elected there is a chance the public may learn for the first time how much water has actually been sold to the gas drillers and how much money has been paid for that water.

If the supply of water in North Texas is so precious why would water be allowed to be wasted by fracking? What if the gas drillers had been told they could not use the fresh water supply for their fracking, that they needed to build a water pipeline to pump water north from the Gulf, to use for fracking?

And now North Texas, courtesy of the TRWD, is taking a Water War all the way to the Supreme Court?

It is all very perplexing....

FW Weekly's Liquid Power Got Me Thinking About The Tarrant Regional Water District Scandals

I am such a big fan of Texas politics, Texas elections and just about all things Texan.

On May 11 some voters who live in the Tarrant Regional Water District will be allowed to vote for TRWD board members.

The Tarrant Regional Water District, and this upcoming election, are classic examples of the Texas type things I find so interesting.

By interesting I mean bizarre and just plain wrong.

For example, only people who live in certain areas of the TRWD are allowed to vote.

If you live in Haltom City, with that town greatly effected by TRWD actions and in-actions, well you don't get to vote, even though things like flash floods flood through your town, killing people.

This week's FW Weekly has an article about this upcoming election, titled Liquid Power. The article is illustrated with a photo of Layla Caraway standing in front of a TRWD sign, with the caption saying, "Water activist Layla Caraway is among those wanting new leadership on the Tarrant Regional Water District board."

However, Layla Caraway lives in Haltom City, so this water activist will not be allowed to vote in this election.

It is very difficult to un-elect a TRWD board member. The process is sort of stacked in their favor, even to the point of arbitrarily adding a year to their 4 year terms. Imagine the uproar that would rear up if Barack Obama did that. But, in Texas, nary a peep.

The TRWD is being sued, currently, for being in violation, over and over and over again, of the Texas Open Meetings Act. This part of the TRWD scandals is also covered in the FW Weekly article.

The three people who hope to get elected to the TRWD are John Basham, Mary Kelleher, and Timothy Nold.

One paragraph in the FW Weekly article stood out to me....

The three like-minded challengers are not running on an anti-TRV message. That project is inevitable. The challengers characterize themselves as watchdogs ready to provide more transparency and steer the water district back to its original mission.

The TRV is inevitable?

For those reading this who are don't know what "TRV" in the above paragraph refers to, TRV is the Trinity River Vision. That being this really bizarre public works project the public has never voted on, a bizarre project which will remove flood control levees, which have worked well for over a half a century, replacing the levees with a humongous flood diversion channel, plus an ever shrinking lake, along with a wakeboard pond, drive-in movie theater, restaurants and other nonsensical things thrown in, all of which cause me to refer to the TRV as the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

Oh, and Fort Worth Congresswoman Kay Granger's unqualified for the job, son, J.D., was given the job of running the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, which I suspect may be part of the reason the Vision has seen such bizarre things as the Cowtown Wakepark and the Woodshed Smokehouse. And that aforementioned, soon to open, drive-in movie theater.

The FW Weekly article mentions a San Antonio-like Riverwalk as part of the TRV Boondoggle. I may be wrong, but I think the Riverwalk left the Vision some time ago, along with those really cool signature bridges across the un-needed flood diversion channel, which will now be crossed by 3 not so cool, non-signature bridges.

I have been told that the 3 TRWD challengers are not running on an anti-TRV platform because most of the voters don't know what TRV is, and polls show that most of the voters, who do know what TRV is, think it is a super wonderful thing that will make the rest of the world even more Green With Envy when people think of one of the Greatest Cities in the World, that being Fort Worth.

Well, methinks perhaps, if the majority of the locals are ignorant regarding Fort Worth's latest, and likely, Greatest boondoggle, that being the Trinity River Vision, with its big price tag, with the money actually being spent on a dubious economic development project, propaganda-ized  as being a much needed flood control project, well, educating voters regarding the idea that it might be in their interest to un-elect the buffoons who initiated the un-voted for Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, might be a way to motivate voters to go to the effort to vote the scoundrels out.

But, what do I know? I'm just a cranky person who knows GOOFY when I see it.....

Perplexed By Disenfranchised Voters In The Tarrant Regional Water District

I do not know which Saturday in May the Tarrant Regional Water Board election takes place.

I do know it is very odd that elections take place, in Fort Worth, on Saturdays, in May.

I also know it is very odd that this particular election was arbitrarily postponed a year, even though those elected are elected to four year terms.

I also know it is very odd that not all the voters who live in the Tarrant Regional Water District are allowed to vote for Water Boarders.

For instance, I am allowed to vote in this election because I live in Fort Worth. If I lived in Haltom City I would not be allowed to vote in this election, even though I live in the Tarrant Regional Water District in a town which has deadly flash floods, indicating Haltom City is direly effected by Tarrant Regional Water Board policies, but can not vote on those who make the policies.

And the locals accept this bizarre situation. Why the disenfranchised locals accept this bizarre situation is perplexingly bizarre to me.

This morning I got a blog comment from Dannyboy to a blogging yesterday where I verbalized my perplexation regarding the lack of public participation in proposed public works in Fort Worth that sheds light on the Fort Worth elections in May anomaly and a couple other things....

Dannyboy has left a new comment on your post "Wondering About The Effect Of Fort Worth's Citizen's Minimalist Public Participation In Proposed Public Works": 

There is a huge lack of public participation on any Fort Worth local government issues. Look at the city council elections this year. Everyone is unopposed. And they hold local elections on a Saturday in the spring. Because the local stuff is the only thing on the ballot, turnout is very low, rarely above even 10 percent. Many cities throughout the country put their local (council, transit, library funding, road building) on the ballot in November, and they obviously get more people engaged and a turnout that is usually over 50 percent. The reason Fort Worth does it this way is that 1) low turnout helps incumbents, and 2) Fort Worth doesn't think any public participation is good. An example: when I moved to Fort Worth from up north many years ago, I asked a neighbor why there weren't any public pools on the near west side of FW. I was told that 1) public pools draw the wrong kind of people, and 2) join a country club if I wanted a place to swim for my daughter (all this is moot now, as FW has gotten rid of its public pools). That sums up FW in a nutshell. If you tell people you would hope the mass transit system gets improved, they ask you if your car is broken down or if your lost your job. And this goes from the young trendies up to the I-hate-everything-old-people. 

UPDATE: I have been informed the Tarrant Regional Water Board Election is Saturday, May 11.

Is It Not About Time Someone Sues The Tarrant Regional Water District Over Texas Open Meetings Violations?

Apparently it is about time someone brings a lawsuit against the Tarrant Regional Water District regarding that agency's violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act, because, according to a reliable source, someone has filed a lawsuit.

I have seen a copy of the suit that was filed on Monday, March 18 in Tarrant County District Court.

The plaintiff in the suit, Monty Bennett is petitioning for declaratory and injunctive relief concerning violations by the TRWD of the Texas Open Meetings Act.

The TRWD Open Meetings Violations are detailed in the lawsuit.

The first paragraph of the Preliminary Statement in the lawsuit document sums up the issue....

It has become well recognized in this state that Texas government is to act in a manner that is transparent as possible. To that end, the Texas Open Meetings Act ("TOMA") was enacted to honor the principle that government at all levels in this state should operate in a way that is open and accessible to the people. TRWD is a governmental body bound directly by the requirements of TOMA. Its Board of Directors is composed of elected officials, each of whom is charged with acting as a judicious steward over public affairs with transparency and openness. Regrettable, TRWD and its Board have ignored that obligation and deliberately chosen to conduct the District's affairs in a manner shielded from public view. Bennett, therefore, brings this action to remedy TRWD's continuous and systematic violations of TOMA.

All I can say, is it is about time. And I can not help but wonder if the TRWD's step-child, that being the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, is included in this attempt to get relief from violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act?

The Tarrant Regional Water District's Muddy Board Report 2011 Vision

In the picture you are looking at the cover of a publication I found in my mailbox this morning. Actually, I found two copies of this publication in my mailbox this morning.

The publication is Board Report 2011 from the Tarrant Regional Water District.

It is currently 2012. Not 2011.

I do not recollect receiving, previously, in the mail, Board Reports from the TRWD, for years previous to 2011.

On the cover it says that the report is "A clear vision for  a substantial and growth-oriented future."

Looking through Board Report 2011 it appears to be a slick propaganda piece touting the alleged virtues of the Water Board.

I did not see any mention made regarding the Tarrant Regional Water District's branching out into the restaurant business in cahoots with J.D. Granger and his Trinity River Vision Boondoggle and Celebrity Chef Tim Love and the controversial Woodshed Smokehouse.

In the Board Report there is a lot of verbiage about saving water, water restrictions and the Lawn Whisperer.

There is no mention made of the volume of water sold to gas drillers by the TRWD to frac Barnett Shale natural gas wells.

I find the water restrictions really bizarre in the TRWD zone, what with all the millions of gallons of water taken out of the system to be polluted with chemicals and then injected into gas wells.

I recently spent 10 days in the Sonoran Desert.

North Texas, and the area served by the TRWD, is not a desert.

The region may occasionally suffer from droughts, but it is not a desert.

So, how is it that in the Phoenix Metropolitan area there are so many water features? Like town lakes, such the Tempe Town Lake, built without the help of J.D. Granger and his earmark-happy Mama, and with actual signature bridges? Or Scottsdale's Waterfront?

Fort Worth might want to send a task force to Tempe and Scottsdale to see how towns which wear Big Boy Pants manage to create such developments, while Fort Worth is stuck in its Little Boy Knickers, relying on a corrupt congresswoman, (who got this corrupt town earmark money favors, in exchange for her little boy getting a job managing Fort Worth's bizarro water feature project), hinky funding mechanisms and never, God forbid, never, a public vote approving taxes to raise funds to build the pathetic little water feature, its unneeded flood control channel and what used to be signature bridges across the unneeded flood control channel.

And how is it the Phoenix metropolitan area, in a desert, a dry, hot desert, manages to manage its water supply without putting the public on Water Restrictions?

Is it because the Phoenix Regional Water District, or whatever that area's government water management agency is called, does not divert any of its water supply to gas drillers pumping millions of gallons of water into  gas wells?

All the water I saw in the Phoenix zone looked clear and clean. I saw no dirty looking Trinity River type water flowing. Why is that? I saw very little litter in that dusty, windy part of the planet. Why is that?

It is all very perplexing.

And in addition to all I've already mentioned that perplexes me about this issue, I am also perplexed as to how the Tarrant Regional Water District justifies spending what must be a large sum of taxpayer money, on this self-serving propaganda publication.

Cowtown Wakepark's March 3 Grand Re-Opening With Hotdogs & Other Mysteries

We need to talk about the Cowtown Wakepark.

I was surprised to learn this afternoon, via the Cowtown Wakepark's website, that today, if you are ready, the world's premiere urban wakeboarding venue is open for business. With free hotdogs.

Seems like only yesterday the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's first up and running vision was damaged by a flood.

Apparently that flood damage has been fixed. And for only $25 you can ride for 5 hours in the crystal clear, fecal bacteria-free, pristine waters of the Cowtown Wakepark Lake.

But, that is not what I wanted to talk about.

I first saw what became the Cowtown Wakepark back in September of 2010. I was pedaling my bike on the Trinity Trail and found myself surprised by the astonishing amount of Trinity River Vision Boondoggle signage, including a couple big signs announcing that the "Trinity River Vision is Underway".

I found the Trinity Trail detoured around what looked like a big pond. Big piles of dirt. Plus new, then un-opened, trail between the pond and the Trinity River.

I took pictures and wondered on my blog as to what the purpose of the pond was.

Either cd0103 (Connie), or CatsPaw, pointed me to a webpage with an article about the Cowtown Wakepark. This was the first I'd heard of this and when I saw the artist's rendering I knew it was the pond I'd seen from the Trinity Trail.

Back in September of 2010 we were all innocent, naive babes in regards to how nefariously corrupt the dealings of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle and its chief henchman, J.D. Granger, could be.

And then we learned of the notorious backroom deal that had the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle and its cohorts, the Tarrant Regional Water District, giving Tim Love a sweetheart deal for his new Woodshed Smokehouse restaurant.

And then another bizarre deal that gave a Dallas startup business a drive-in concession as part of the ongoing effort to prevent flood damage.

I don't recollect hearing questions raised as to how the Cowtown Wakepark deal was made.

Clearly some special engineering took place to build the pond and to re-route the Trinity Trail. Someone had to have paid for that.

Was the Cowtown Wakepark deal of the same nature as the Tim Love Woodshed Smokehouse sweetheart deal? With the Cowtown Wakepark owners paying the TRV or TRWD a percentage of their gross? With the TRV or TRWD being the owners of the pond and the development?

It seems sort of clear to me that this Cowtown Wakepark enterprise is not going to succeed. I mean, really, how many people do you think live within a 25 mile radius of that pond who are willing to pay $25 to be towed around, by a cable, in a pond filled with dirty river water?

I really doubt Cowtown Wakepark will last the summer.

Then again, I could be wrong. I never dreamed that 100s of people would be willing to float in the Trinity River in Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats.

Clearly I underestimate the locals toleration for swimming with the feces.

Up Early On The 6th Day Of July Wondering About The Texas Drought & The Phoenix Sandstorm

Almost a 5th of July has already come and gone. This is morning is the start of day #6 of July.

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell at the pool oasis below and the sky above, you can sort of see that this day has dawned with yet one more bright clear cloud-free sky in Texas.

Speaking of being cloud-free. The Texas drought continues to worsen. This morning  brought the news that the Tarrant Regional Water District will be going into mandatory water restriction mode when the district's water supply drops to 75 percent of capacity.

Yesterday, in the short distance I drove by the Trinity River, I saw 3 instances of multiple pipelines sucking water out of the Trinity River by Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drillers.

In June Fort Worth broke its water use record, using an all-time high of 8 billion gallons.

How many of those gallons were injected into natural gas wells, I could not help but wonder?

No mention was made, in the article, about the drought, in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, regarding the fact that a new heavy user of water has moved into town in recent years. One would think mention of this would be made in an article about the local water woes.

Am I the only person curious as to what the water gallon total is in Fort Worth and Tarrant County that is being used by the Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drillers?

Meanwhile, news out of Arizona and the Phoenix zone this morning brought astonishing photos of a giant sandstorm that hit the Valley of the Sun on Tuesday.

I must remember to call my mom and dad and sister to see how they fared in this mess.

I will not be going swimming this morning. The pool got its weekly shock treatment late yesterday. The lack of going swimming should have me being grumpy in about 2 hours.

Clouds Return On The Morning Of The 3rd Tuesday Of 2011 While My Drinking Water Source Changes

The sun has not quite illuminated my surroundings enough to make an absolute determination, but currently it appears we are back under a gray cloud cover on this 3rd Tuesday of 2011.

On a warmer note it is not freezing at only 2 degrees shy of being 50. Which you can sort of tell because no steam is fuming from my hot tub.

This morning I learned my drinking water may be tasting not so good for a few days. Apparently the Tarrant Regional Water District will be working on the water supply lines that bring water in from East Texas.

While the water lines are being worked on, the water I drink will be coming from Benbrook Lake. That is to the southwest of my location.

One thing I've not understood about Texas drinking water coming from lake sources is the lakes are also used for recreation. As in boats and swimming. Where my drinking water came from in Washington, the Judy Reservoir, that lake is surrounded by high fence with concertina wire on top.

I am used to enhancing the drinkability of my Texas water by keeping a big pitcher of water with lemon slices floating in it, in the fridge.

All this water talk is making me think it is time to go swimming now. Talk to you later.

No Rain Has Fallen But The Trinity River Is Rising

I showed you this same view of the Trinity River on Saturday. At that point in time the sandbar was way bigger. Today, crossing the Beach Street Bridge over the Trinity I saw that the river has risen.

How can that be?

We have had no rain. Though some is predicted to fall tomorrow. And the day after tomorrow.

The river has risen so much it is about to re-float some inner tubes that have been dry docked. Maybe J.D. Granger is reading this in time to send out a rescue team to get the inner tubes before they go back into float mode.

I turned around from the inner tubes, and slowly disappearing sandbar, to look east to the Trinity Dam/Bridge, to see a white pickup truck sitting on the middle of the dam, above where the whirlpool was whirling strong before the water went low. I figured due to the rising water, the whirlpool must be back.

A white pickup truck. My one longtime reader knows I have a really bad history with white pickup trucks. So, I decided to bike on down to the truck and see if I could find myself in some sort of interesting situation.

Oh. It is a Tarrant Regional Water District white pickup. This seemed a bit less nefarious than an Express Energy Services white pickup.

A guy with some power tools was doing I do not know what. He was on the phone with someone, sounding a bit concerned. I thought if I stopped by the truck, with the worker guy right there, that I might get to ask what he was doing. But, he never got off the phone. I stood there taking pictures for a couple minutes and then continued on my way.

Even though the Trinity River was quite a bit higher than it was on Saturday, the whirlpool had not returned. I do not think any water was making it through the dam. Thus the rising water on the one side of the dam and shrinking water on the other side. This must be what the Tarrant Regional Water District guy was working on.

On Saturday I saw that DANGER sign on the next dam upriver, saying that "maintenance was in progress." No similar sign was on the Trinity dam outside Gateway Park.

Interesting to me that we have a river here that you, apparently, can turn on and off. Except when it is in flood mode.

The only other river I have lived up close to was the Skagit River in Washington. The Skagit River really does not have the off and on feature that the Trinity River has.

Except.

There is a really rugged, wild section of the Skagit beneath Gorge Dam. If you are having fun playing in that section and you hear sirens, you need to make it quickly to high ground, due to water being released. If you have seen the movie, Parallax View, you have seen how scary the Gorge Dam can be. The Trinity River seems fairly benign in comparison.

Except for those J.D. Granger inner tube floats.