A Dallas developer purchasing Fairfield Lake State Park is considering a plan to sell water from the reservoir to parched North Texas cities, a move that environmentalists say would devastate the popular lake.
The 50-year-old state park south of Dallas closed Tuesday after months of negotiations between private companies and the state failed to secure a deal.
Although the park has been open to the public since the 1970s, the property is owned by Vistra Energy, which has leased the land to the state at no cost.
Developer Shawn Todd, who owns Todd Interests, plans to transform the land into an exclusive gated community with multi-million homes and a golf course. State park officials say Todd has also indicated plans to sell some of the water to cities in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Under current restrictions, water from Fairfield Lake cannot be pumped out and sold to outside parties. But Kim Nygren, with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, said Monday at a House Appropriations subcommittee that Vistra has filed a request to allow the landowner to divert roughly 14,000 acre-feet of water — nearly one third of the volume — for residential, agricultural and other uses.
If that happens, “this lake is no longer the lake as we know it,” Arch “Beaver” Aplin III, chairman of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission, said at the same hearing.
Texas Parks and Wildlife modeling shows removing that water would reduce the lake’s acreage from 2,047 acres to 1,200 and shrink 26 miles of shoreline to 12.5 miles, said Aplin, who is also the founder and CEO of Buc-ee’s.
The 2,400-acre Fairfield Lake is the centerpiece of the state park, which offers miles of trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding. But the park’s biggest draw is catfish and bass fishing. Last year, Fairfield welcomed 82,000 visitors, more than during any year in its history.
Luke Metzger, executive director of Environment Texas, said removing that water would wipe out the plants and animals that thrive in the lake and diminish the reservoir’s recreational value.
“Destroying our precious lakes and state parks is not the answer to Texas’ water problems,” Metzger said.
Dallas-Fort Worth is expected to face a severe water shortage in coming years if no new sources of water are identified. By 2070, demand is expected to increase by 67% in North Texas, according to the state’s data.
Across Texas, demand for water is expected to increase 9% to 19.2 million acre feet. An acre-foot is the amount of water that covers an acre of land with one foot of water.
But during the same time frame, the state’s water supply is expected to fall 18%, potentially leaving millions without adequate water.
Blake Beckham, an attorney for Todd Interests, declined to say whether the company plans to sell water from Fairfield Lake.
“I’m sure the people buying lots don’t want to have an empty lake in front of their house,” Beckham said at the hearing. “Nobody at Todd Interests is stupid. We’re going to be good stewards. We’re going to be conservationists.”
Fairfield Lake and the surrounding park lie along a rural stretch of land in Freestone County, roughly 90 miles southeast of Dallas. Its central location to Dallas, Houston and Austin makes the area highly sought-after real estate.
For decades, Vistra leased the land to Texas at no cost and used the lake as a cooling reservoir for a power plant. In 2018, the coal plant closed, and Vistra listed the property for $110 million in 2021.
Legislators are still looking for ways to save the park. Texas Rep. Angelia Orr, a Hill County Republican, filed a bill last month that would give the state the power to acquire the land through eminent domain.
It’s not yet clear whether the eminent domain bill will gain traction in Texas, which has historically been supportive of private landowner rights.
