Reservoir plan in troubled waters
1993 Acquisition of mineral interests at Lake Alan Henry will delay indefinitely the filling of the reservoir and could substantially inflate the $140 million price tag for the project, city officials acknowledge.
"This obviously has a potential to be a very expensive problem," Mayor David Langston said.
City officials have acquired about 50 percent of the mineral interests at the site of the future reservoir being developed near Justiceburg.
They are in the process of acquiring the remaining rights and recently were ordered to pay $8.89 million to two Garza County oilmen as compensation for lack of access to drilling areas that will be flooded once the lake fills to capacity.
Lubbock is appealing that ruling, but Langston and others estimated that the price tag for the remaining mineral rights at the reservoir ultimately could total $18 million if the $8.89 million award sets the standard for other interests in the area.
The Lake Alan Henry project is to provide a water supply source and has been under way since 1967.
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