Morgan Wheatly

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

Conditions at Greenbelt Lake have improved, but more rain is needed get the reservoir completely out of drought status.

Greenbelt General Manager Bobbie Kidd said this week the lake has come up 11 feet for the year and has actually moved out of Stage Four drought conditions but is not quite out of Stage Three.

“We lack about a foot and a quarter before we get to Stage Two,” Kidd said.

The lake entered each drought stage based on elevation triggers, and those triggers reverse as the lake level rises. Making it back to Stage Two will be an important benchmark for Greenbelt because that’s when the water authority will lift restrictions on skiing and recreational boating, Kidd said.

The lake has two temporary boat ramps open for fishing boats at Kincaid Park, and Kidd said the additional eleven feet in the reservoir has improved Greenbelt’s traffic somewhat, but more important is the quantity of water the lake now holds.

“We nearly doubled our capacity going from about 7,700 acre-feet to more than 14,000 acre-feet,” Kidd said. “That puts us at nearly five billion gallons.”

In addition to exceptional rainfall since the spring, Greenbelt has been helped by efforts undertaken months ago to clean out the channel of the Salt Fork of the Red River, which feeds the lake. The water authority cleared out a 1.6 miles of the river, making a channel four feet deep and about 20 feet wide, which has helped get runoff water into the lake.

“There was a lot of water just standing before that,” Kidd said.

Greenbelt Water Authority has added a lot of groundwater capacity to its operations since the lake level dropped nine feet in 2011 alone. Since then five wells have been put online in Clarendon and four wells have been located on Kelly Creek, allowing about 40 percent of water consumption to be coming from groundwater instead of the reservoir.

It will take about eight more feet of water in Greenbelt to get completely out of drought status, but Kidd said he thinks people have learned a lot during the drought.

“People are getting smarter about water usage,” he said. “I think even if the lake was full you wouldn’t see water being wasted.”

 

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

Two Donley County men are facing assault charges after weekend fight that is under investigation by the Texas Rangers.

Clay Sawyer, age 32, and Chris Blackburn, age 21, were both arrested in the early morning hours of Saturday, July 18, after officers were dispatched to the 600 block of S. Collinson Street following a report of a fight in progress at about 1:28 a.m.

One victim was reportedly hospitalized following the altercation, and neighbors witnessed two Donley County Deputies, one state trooper, and local EMS respond to the events.

Texas Ranger Scott Swick was called in Saturday to handle the case and file the charges since Blackburn is the son of Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn.

Justice of the Peace Pam Mason said she arraigned both subjects on Saturday night.

Sawyer was charged with two counts of Class A Misdemeanor Assault with bond set at $1,500 for each count. Blackburn was charged with one count of Class A Misdemeanor Assault with bond set at $1,500.

Sawyer and Blackburn were released on bond Sunday.

Ranger Swick said Monday that his investigation is on-going and offered no further comment on the case.

 

By Kiah Collier, The Texas Tribune

For the first time in more than five years, Texas is not in a drought.

While less than three percent of the state remains “abnormally dry,” according to the latest US Drought Monitor report, drought has disappeared from every other part of Texas.

Just three months ago, more than 35 percent of the Lone Star State was in some form of drought – either moderate, severe, extreme or exceptional, depending on the location. A year ago, it was more than 60 percent.

Texas has been in varying degrees of drought since April 2010, according to the Texas Water Development Board.

The water planning agency called the drought disappearance “big news” Monday in its weekly drought report, but also offered a reminder that the national monitor “favors soil conditions” and that “reservoirs are still low in West, Far West, and South Texas.”

Those reservoirs serve as drinking water supplies for many small cities.

 

Work continues on the rehabilitation of the Mulkey Theatre following action taken by the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation last Monday, July 13.

CEDC board members gave the go-ahead to Pioneer General Contractors to take further steps on Phase 3 interior work for a cost not to exceed $74,905. Half of the cost will be covered by money privately donated to the Mulkey Project and held by the Clarendon Community Fund. The remaining cost will be split between economic development sales tax funds and Hotel Occupancy Tax funds.

The approved scope of work includes electrical wiring to restore house lights and cove lights in the theatre, replacement of rear exit doors, construction of a platform for handicapped accessible seating at the rear of the auditorium, and extension of the theatre’s stage to eventually accommodate live performances and conferences.

The goal of the Mulkey project is to reopen the theatre as not only a movie house but also a conference center and performance hall to bring more activity to Clarendon’s downtown. The CEDC and the Chamber of Commerce are housed in the former barbershop at the front of the theatre, which has been remodeled to serve as Clarendon’s official Visitor Center.

Tax-deductible donations to the Mulkey project can be made to the Clarendon Community Fund, a unit of the Amarillo Area Foundation, at the Visitor Center or by mail at PO Box 826, Clarendon, TX 79226.