Caddo Lake water motion dies in Commission session with no discussion

The Caddo Commission’s motion next week to ask state and territorial officials to halt large-scale withdrawals of water from Caddo Lake died without a moment’s notice during Monday’s work session.

An agenda item on the Caddo Commission’s Feb. 2 work session agenda calls on the Red River Compact Commission and the Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources to advance a moratorium on withdrawing water from Caddo Lake for any use other than small or commercial residential use for 365 days or until a study is obtained on the impact of exceeding current allowable levels.

The decision expressed concerns about the long-term sustainability of the lake in light of the proposed proposal. data center Near Caddo Lake.

Not a second later there would be no further discussion of the decision.

He offered two citizens a chance to speak, following public comments as the governing body moves toward an executive session. One of these citizens was Vicki L. Moore.

Moore, who has lived in Caddo Parish for 47 years and spent the last two years living on Blanchard-Latex Road, where data center developer STACK Infrastructure has purchased more than 500 acres of land.

“You are my representative on the commission,” Moore said. Expressing her concerns about the water in Caddo Lake, the woman stated that she had been without water for days and said that she had been more dehydrated than in Shreveport during the two years she lived in Blanchard. He mostly expressed disappointment that the Commission had not at least moved forward to discuss Kracman’s proposal.

“We don’t know where you stand. So I don’t know where I stand,” he said.

Commissioner Victor Thomas addressed comments regarding the proposal.

“We plan to address this matter appropriately,” he said. “I didn’t want you to leave here feeling defeated, feeling like we didn’t care about your water problem and Caddo Lake.”

Most commissioners who spoke felt it was too early and said there was nothing to confirm the planned development was actually a data center.

Which data center is in Blanchard? Data center developer STACK Infrastructure is linked to Caddo and Bossier land deals.

But Kracman said the decision had nothing to do with Blanchard Utilities or its data centers. “We all say how much we care about Caddo Lake, but if we’re not willing to argue about it, how much do we really care?” A sentence that received applause from the audience.

He said it was one of the most proactive things he’s done since becoming commissioner and that he just wanted a break so “smart” people could conduct a study.

The quiet rejection of Kracman’s laws was also echoed as the Blanchard region grappled with its water crisis.

Does Blanchard have problems with water?

Blanchard Mayor Jim Galambo said: On Facebook on February 1 Blanchard Water System was experiencing a production problem that affected local municipalities.

On Monday, Feb. 2, Galambo told the Shreveport Times that Blanchard Water System was experiencing some production issues with equipment at the facility due to the cold weather.

On Sunday, Blanchard Water System cut off some customers’ valves to allow the water system to fill their tanks.

As of Monday, the water outage had not yet been resolved after the leaks were discovered and the water system had to empty the tanks.

Blanchard water crisis: Blanchard Utilites water outage affects many cities, closes schools

“We had a hard time,” Galambo said. “We had to go and find the leaks. We finally found them all and our crews are on site. We’re having them do the repairs.”

Mooringsport Mayor Ty Gordon posted on Facebook: “Currently Mooringsport and Oil City are still CLOSED… There is NO definitive restoration time at this time.”

This water outage caused the cancellation of Herndon Magnet School, Mooringsport Elementary School, Blanchard Elementary School, Donnie Bickham Middle School, and Northwood High School.

Caddo Parish Schools said, “District leadership continues to monitor the situation closely and will provide updates as additional information becomes available.” he said.

Kracman, who proposed the moratorium, told The Times in an earlier interview that he had received calls from constituents opposed to the data center and environmentalists concerned that Caddo Lake would not be able to handle millions of gallons of daily withdrawals under the developers’ contract with Blanchard.

“Before we oppose any random data center, let’s bring in people who are qualified to evaluate what the lake can and cannot afford,” Kracman said. “I’d rather weigh and measure whether it’s okay or not, and I think everyone can appreciate taking a break and getting some facts together.”

In New Orleans, a measure similar to the one Krackman proposed led to the cancellation of a data center project.

Is a data center planned for the Blanchard area?

A global data center developer with a growing footprint in the United States has been linked to several major land acquisitions in Caddo and Bossier neighborhoods, public property records show.

STACK Infrastructure, a Denver-based digital infrastructure company, led the acquisitions through SAC III Acquisition Co., which is listed on multiple purchase agreements for purpose-built properties. It is connected through LLC. Data center development in Northwest Louisiana.

SAC III Acquisition Co. is listed as the buyer in several transactions in Caddo Parish and Bossier Parish, including more than 500 acres in Blanchard at the corner of Blanchard Latex and Stateline roads. The facility is located on the Louisiana-Texas border.

Public records show SAC III Acquisition Co. lists its address as 1700 Broadway, Suite 1750, Denver, Colorado. STACK Infrastructure.

STACK Infrastructure develops and operates hyperscale data centers for large enterprises, cloud service providers, and companies focused on artificial intelligence and machine learning workloads. The company provides data center capacity in major markets in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.

The company is backed by investment firms IPI Partners and ICONIQ Capital, both of which specialize in large-scale infrastructure and technology investments.

This article first appeared in the Shreveport Times: Caddo Commission cancels Caddo Lake proposal without discussion