Washington Parish Reservoir District to be abolished (we hope)

Representative Smiley,

You have no idea how relieved that I was to see the Washington Parish Reservoir District included on the list to be abolished. The creation of this district has caused much grief to many of the residents of Washington Parish including my own family and neighbors. Unfortunately, we have no voice with our own elected representatives (Sen. Nevers and Rep. Ritchie). They are very much in support of the reservoir district. These two representatives well know the opposition to this project is strong, but they would have others that are not in tune with this matter believe that the whole parish is in support of it. There has been so much controversy and even the air of corruption surrounding all of the reservoir districts. The paid reservoir consultant, Michael Thompson, was even convicted of a felony in relation to the Poverty Point Reservoir (a model for future reservoirs). It is a money making scheme to milk millions of tax dollars from our state and forcefully take land and homes from hardworking people. With the help of other concerned people from our state, a web site was created to compile all of the wrongdoing surrounding the creation of the Washington Parish Reservoir District and other reservoir districts across our state. Here is the link to that web site: http://oakgrovecommunity.tripod.com/

The Bouey Moore House and site that would sit dead center under the Washinton Parish Reservoir has since been placed on the National History Parks registry, and my dad received federal funds totaling $48,000 in the form of a grant to restore the old home place after Hurricane Katrina damaged it. The state will actually have to go to bat with the federal government to take this historic site. There are also several well-kept cemeteries to be moved. To be blunt, I am sick to death of fighting this battle, but I continue to fight it for my family's sake. The Washington Parish Reservoir Commission could not get approval with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build the reservoir because they could not prove the need for potable water, and the data that was submitted by the contracted engineering firm, Denmon Engineering, was not in-line with the information reported by the federal agency that monitors factual data on our ground water and aquifers. I believe it the USGS. We don't even need the reservoir for recreational purposes with the completion of the state park in Franklinton. If the governor and elected officials are truly concerned and interested in cutting waste, then abolish the reservoir districts and commissions and you'll save about a billion right there. I implore you to really look into this matter before arbitrarily removing this abomination of a reservoir district from HB 584.

Best Regards,


Jalon Beech
Licensed Private Investigator