Tim, I must tell you: That barely perceptible little tone of irritation suits you. You should go with your feelings more often. For my part, much as I enjoy this manly towel-snapping, I now really must go do my job. I got to go write my column.
My last thought before leaving the locker room will be this: In your need to cheerlead for this project, you conveniently ignore what was the original argument. None of the things you describe is real. None of it is included in the Trinity River Project, as passed by the voters in 1998.
This whole scenario where effluent from the wastewater treatment plant is pumped up into the lake creating a reverse flow--Tim, that's not going to happen. There is no money for it.
Money, money, Tim. You can't do stuff if you don't got no money.
Just to make sure I hadn't taken leave of my senses because of too much blogging, I called Rebecca Dugger, who is in charge of the program for the city, and I asked her again. She hemmed and hawed and told me how they might raise the money and they might get the money and so on, but finally she agreed: There is no money for water from the wastewater treatment plant. She said they're going to fill the lake with "groundwater."
Maybe, maybe not. Nobody knows what kind of groundwater comes out of the river bottom. I don't think the money is there for the kind of deep wells that would fill a lake anyway. So what we will have is a hole in the round filled with rain water, when it rains, and a lot of slop—over from the flooded (contaminated) river when it floods. And no way to clean the lake out.
All your stuff about the elevations of the lakes and the flow of the river--Tim, they haven't designed anything yet. That was what the delayed vote was for yesterday: a contract to design this stuff.
Ah, I gotta go to work. But, Tim, seriously: I like you when you're mad. Just remember: It's not nice to tell the people they're going to get a beautiful new Lexus when what they are really going to get is a rebuilt Ford F150 pickup that can't pass its next emissions test.
The money, Tim. Talk to us about the moolah. And every little chance we get, let's try to leave Rebecca Dugger out of it. She's a nice smart person doing her job. Just snap right at me, Tim. No fair hiding behind ladies. --Jim Schutze