The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 95, July 1991 - April, 1992 Page: 357
598 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Lake Brownwood
After the Abilene meeting, however, others began to point out the
economic benefits of the Syndicate Power Project to the lower Colorado
River valley. These benefits got more attention when Middle West Utili-
ties Company suddenly ceased negotiations with the Syndicate Power
Company and stopped all work at Hamilton Dam near Burnet follow-
ing the Abilene meeting. The communities likely to receive the benefits
of the dams reacted quickly to the work stoppage, apparently without
considering its convenient timing. The Burnet Chamber of Commerce
sent a letter to Martin J. Insull, Samuel Insull's brother and the head of
Middle West Utilities Company, blasting the Abilene meeting as an ex-
ample of mob tactics. At the request of the Burnet Chamber, the Austin
Chamber of Commerce sent a similar telegram. The Marble Falls, the
Lampasas, and the Llano Chambers of Commerce announced that they
had taken or would take similar action. The Colorado River Improve-
ment Association, formed in 1915 to promote flood control, naviga-
tion, and water storage in the lower Colorado River valley, also issued a
statement noting the economic benefits of the Syndicate Power project.
It concluded that "it is apparent that it is in the best interest of all of
Texas that these dams be built in Burnet and Travis Counties." '
On September 1, 1927, amidst all the hoopla, the board finally made
its decision. Two members of the board decided that the Brown County
District could build a reservoir with a capacity of 125,000 acre-feet of
water, rather than the 500,ooo acre-feet requested. From this reservoir,
the district could take 16,8oo acre-feet of water per year for municipal
use and 50,590 acre-feet of water per year to irrigate 25,295 acres of
land located within the district. A third member of the board dissented
because he "believed Brownwood was entitled to a permit for all the
water applied for."2
The board's decision did nothing to stop the publicity war now rag-
ing between upstream and downstream interests, however. On the
downstream side, U.S. Congressman J. J. Mansfield asked the Insull in-
terests to develop not only the dams in Travis and Burnet counties, but
a dam downstream at Columbus, Texas, as well. A representative of the
Burnet Chamber of Commerce returned from a tour of the lower
Colorado River valley to declare that all communities in the watershed
from LaGrange to the coast favored construction of the six power
dams. The South Texas Chamber of Commerce announced its support
for the Syndicate Power Company project.21
19Austin Statesman, Aug 24, 26, 31, Sept. 1 (quotation), 1927.
20Minute Order of the Board of Water Engineers, Sept. 1, 1927, Application No 1085 file
(TWC); Telegram from A. H Dunlap to Max Bentley, Sept 3, 1927 (quotation), ibld
21Austin Statesman, Sept 3, 8, 1927.357
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 95, July 1991 - April, 1992, periodical, 1992; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117153/m1/417/: accessed May 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.