LCA PRESIDENT’S UPDATE As of December 20, 2019

The Lake Conroe Association (LCA) would like to thank and commend the lake community for the
ENORMOUS SUPPORT shown in attendance at the San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA) Board of Directors
Meeting held December 12, 2019. The room was filled to capacity with red “Stop The Drop” tee shirts,
local residents and businesses expressed their feelings in the Public Comment section of the agenda,
and cars lined Highway 105 as an estimated 300 people were denied access to the Meeting due to Fire
Marshall room size/attendance restrictions. I’ve not seen a “coming together” of the community like
this before. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

UPCOMING SJRA BOARD MEETING AND CHANGE OF VENUE: First, I’d like to acknowledge SJRA’s
decision to waive a standing policy of no more than 15 minutes discussion of any one topic in their
December 12 SJRA Board Meeting. Knowing the public desired to speak on the reduced lake level topic,
SJRA allowed everyone in attendance to speak for the 3-minute maximum per person.

Responding to the number of people turned away on December 12 due to room size/attendance
restrictions, SJRA has decided to call Special Meetings on January 21 and February 20 to be held at the
Lone Star Convention Center at 6PM each evening. Anyone desiring to speak in either of these Meetings
will be allowed to do so (for the 3-minute per person maximum). SJRA will do a presentation on their
“Temporary Seasonal Lake Level Adjustment Program” (the “Program”) at the January 21 Meeting, and
the SJRA Board will vote in the February 20 Meeting as to eliminating, modifying or continuing the
Program. We hope our residents and businesses will turn out in even greater numbers than December
12 and continue to demonstrate their opposition to the Program. The Lone Star Convention Center is
located at 9055 Airport Road, Conroe, Texas 77303

BUMPER STICKERS, YARD SIGNS, TEE SHIRTS AND BILLBOARD:Keeping the reduced lake level topic in
the forefront of people’s minds, a set of promotional materials has been developed if you are
interested. “Save the Lake” bumpers stickers and yard signs may be picked up at the Fast Signs location
at 206H South Loop 336 W (936-539-3278). The first 1000 bumper stickers are free of charge and
compliments of Fast Signs’ owner Chris Farr. Yards signs with stakes are $10 to cover costs. A
motivated group from Walden independently created their red “Stop the Drop” tee shirts that filled the
December 12 SJRA Board Room (printed over 200 tee shirts for that meeting) and portrayed a great
sense of unity amongst attendees. It would be marvelous if other lake area POA’s coordinated similar
tee shirt campaigns for their sub-division so that we could fill the January 21 and February 20 SJRA
Special Meetings with a sea of red. Walden’s tee shirt printer, T-Shirts Plus (936-499-1949 cell,
[email protected] is best way to request an order, 2024 FM2854), can produce those same tee shirts
for your sub-division and will honor Walden’s $5/shirt pricing for those same shirts. And, next week, a
billboard on Highway 105 will raise further attention to the reduced lake level issue compliments of Fast
Signs, the “Stop Draining Lake Conroe” website campaign and the LCA.

LCA Website – – our existing website is undergoing significant revamping and is not as up to date as we
would like at this time. We have partnered with a website that is targeted on the elimination of the lake
lowering program. Please visit https://www.stopdraininglakeconroe.com/ for daily / weekly updates.

LCA PETITION TO GOVERNOR ABBOTT: The LCA has initiated an electronic petition requesting
Governor Abbott to intervene and cease SJRA’s Program. We are aware that other individuals have
already circulated petitions on reduced lake levels and some of those sites ask for donations. The LCA is
very appreciative of those efforts and desires to work cooperatively with those existing petition efforts.
As a 501 C 3 Non-Profit Organization, the LCA is bound by certain restrictions that may be violated in
endorsing the existing petitions. Therefore, we have created this new petition to comply with those
restrictions and will be releasing that petition and its cover letter tomorrow. Even if you have signed the
initial petitions, you are not restricted from signing the LCA Petition – and hope you will do so!

HAVE YOU WRITTEN YOUR LETTER OR E-MAIL?Expressing your dissatisfaction with SJRA’s Program in
writing is still imperative to our goal of eliminating that Program. If the Holidays have kept you
distracted or it has simply slipped your mind, please take those 15 minutes to let SJRA, its Board, and/or
Governor Abbott know how you feel. SJRA’s Management can be emailed at
[email protected]. To contact SJRA’s Board, visit https://www.sjra.net/about/board
or e-mail [email protected]. Governor Abbott’s Office can be reached at
https://gov.texas.gov/contact and use the “I want to share my opinion” option on the home page.

IS THE DREDGING OF THE WEST FORK OF THE SAN JACINTO RIVER OVER?SJRA’s Program was deemed
“temporary” and initially tied to a) the completion of Phase I of the dredging of the West Fork of the San
Jacinto River, and b) the implementation of other flood mitigation strategies. Phase I and supplemental
Phase II of the dredging program have been completed and dredge equipment removed from the site.
Many believe that dredging is completed and, therefore, the Program should be eliminated. As a simple
point of clarification, dredging will undoubtedly continue for years to come on the West Fork of the San
Jacinto River and in/around Lake Houston. References provided to us conclude dredging will continue
and include: 1) State Legislature appropriated $30 Million for dredging the confluence of the San Jacinto
River and Lake Houston (https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/86R/amendments/pdf/sb00500h23.pdf), 2)
Harris County Flood Control District has allocated $10 Million under item CI-61 on the list approved by
voters (https://reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/2018bondprojectlist2018-08-06-1130.pdf), 3) City of Houston Mayor Turner approved $6 Million per State Representative Dan Huberty,
4) State Representative Dan Huberty is working on a grant from the Texas Water Development Board, 5)
Stephen Costello, Mayor Turner’s “Flood Czar”, has submitted an October, 2019 grant request to FEMA
under an non-emergency portion of the Stafford Act, 6) Harris County Flood Control District is evaluating
the best options to proceed with dredging (i.e. buying dredge equipment vs hiring a dredge contractor,
and 7) the Army Corps of Engineers has issued a permit for the dredge placement site.

LAKE CONROE STUDIES COMPLETED BY TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT (TPWD): Released this week, TPWD provides the following information regarding vegetation and fish populations on Lake
Conroe:

• No Hydrilla
• 37 acres of Giant Salvinia
• 6 acres of Water Hyacinth
• 26 acres of Crested Floating Heart in thin, scattered clumps
• 331 acres of Native Vegetation
• More species of fish were collected than in the past
• More shad were collected
• Less Big Bass were collected (although TPWD feels Big Bass may have been sheltering in the
  deepest of our waters)
• More “Young-of-Year” Largemouth Bass were collected

Overall, a healthy ecosystem was reported, and Lake Conroe continues to have some of the cleanest
water in Texas reservoirs. Many thanks to TPWD and SJRA efforts contributing to these results.

LCA ANNUAL ELECTION OF ITS BOARD OF DIRECTORS:Members of the LCA will be receiving their LCA
Annual Board of Directors Election Ballot in the mail next week. Please take the time to complete and
return your ballot so that we achieve a quorum in these annual elections.

JOINING THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE LCA: If you are yet to become a Member of the LCA, there’s no time
like the present. A donation of $10 or more places you in our Membership and assures you of receiving
the most recent information via these LCA President’s Updates. Donations can be mailed to: Lake
Conroe Association, PO Box 376, Willis, Texas 77378.

Thank you for your support of the Lake Conroe Association and your lake community. We look forward
to seeing you on January 21 and February 20 for SJRA’s Special Meetings being held at the Lone Star
Convention Center. Until then, we’re wishing you and your family a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Mike Bleier, President
Lake Conroe Association