TSSWCB Delays Brush
Control Rules Change

TEMPLE — The Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, meeting here last week, voted to postpone controversial changes to the rules governing the state’s brush control program.

The program funds cost-share payments for brush control as a way to increase water flow to the state’s streams, rivers and reservoirs.

A statement from TSSWCB says the board postponed adoption of the proposed rule amendments "after discussing the comments received at ... public hearings and reviewing letters that had been received by various individuals expressing concern regarding the changes."

Instead, the board directed its staff to "address all the comments" and present recommendations at the next board meeting, scheduled Sept. 20.

The proposed changes were primarily intended to bring written rules more closely in line with the manner in which the program was actually being implemented on the ground. Existing rules were written using a previous program as a model, TSSWCB spokesmen have explained, but the earlier program focused on individual local soil and water conservation boards, whereas the current program is implemented on a watershed basis in which individual projects may involve several local districts.

Critics have raised concerns about the wording of some of the changes, suggesting that amendments could narrow the scope of the program and dilute the authority of local boards.