REX MONCRIEF
“Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink” is a famous quote from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by the 19th Century English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It could just as easily have been applied to Bossier City and Benton during the recent ice storm. Arguably, the Benton area residents suffered the worst. Thousands of residents were completely without water for days, or, at best, had exceedingly low pressure. Did it have to be that way for Benton, though?
To be clear, the ice storm that hit Louisiana was a huge stress on all the area utilities and services. Benton buys its water from Bossier City. When you factor all the faucets left on plus all the burst pipes in Bossier City alone, it is not hard to imagine Benton’s pressure would be minimal because of the distance that water has to be pumped. However, Benton has two lakes, Cypress Reservoir and Black Bayou, that were created decades ago. The primary purpose of both lakes was to provide water for farming in the area and as a backup water supply to Bossier City. The Cypress Park was a secondary consideration. To my knowledge, the lakes have never been used as water sources except for a recent sale of water for a fracking and well operation.
Why not sell the water to the Town of Benton? There is no doubt about it: The Cypress District could use the additional revenue generated from selling water to Benton. After all, the Cypress Park has a payroll over $500,000 even while mostly shut down for half of 2020. Based on the P&L statements provided by the Cypress District, you do not have to be a financial wizard to see that the park is not self-sustaining without the tax revenue from the District’s millage and landowner fees assessed to property owners around the lakes. The Cypress District itself spent over $247,651.15 in just on legal fees in 2020 while skipping or deferring one of the nearly $200,000 payments for their $3,000,000 loan. As of the end of 2020, there is only around $44,000 in their “operations and maintenance” account, which, according to the Cypress District, is there for emergency issues with the dams or other critical infrastructure. That balance has been as low as $334 at the end of 2019. The Cypress District needs the income to keep afloat.
To accomplish the idea of selling water to Benton would be no easy task. It would take legislation, engineering studies, and, of course, tax dollars. There would probably much gnawing and gnashing of teeth by various interested groups, public officials and input from the public. One of the worries would be lower lake levels during the summer months, and both lakes are typically used heavily for recreation. It would probably take years to plan and implement. However, after the recent lack of water for many days, the public and government officials would probably be much more receptive to the idea. Maybe, just maybe, Benton area residents would not run out of water again.
THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE March 12 ISSUE OF FOCUS SB - THE INQUISITOR.