The Kaddo Lake Water Proposal Commission meeting died without discussion

A proposal before the Caddo Commission to ask state and territory officials next week to halt large-scale water withdrawals from Caddo Lake died without a second in Monday’s work session.

An agenda item on the Caddo Commission’s Feb. 2 work session agenda calls for the Red River Compact Commission and the Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources to extend a 365-day moratorium on withdrawing water from Caddo Lake for any use other than small or commercial residential use or until the results of a current level study are received.

The proposal cited concerns about the lake’s long-term sustainability in light of a proposed data center near Caddo Lake.

Without a second, the resolution could not be discussed further.

As the governing body moved into executive session, they gave two citizens a chance to speak after a public comment period. One of those citizens was Vicki L. Moore

Moore, who has lived in Caddo Parish for 47 years and for the past two years has lived on Blanchard-Latex Road, where data center developer Stack Infrastructure has purchased more than 500 acres.

“You represent me on the commission,” Moore said. She expressed concern about the water in Caddo Lake, noting that it has been without water for a few days, and said that in the two years she has lived in Blanchard, Shreveport has been without water more than ever. Mostly, he expressed frustration at the commission for not at least moving forward to discuss Crackman’s proposal.

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

Commissioner Victor Thomas addressed comments about the proposal.

“We plan to address this issue appropriately,” he said. “I don’t want to leave here feeling lost and we don’t care about your water problems and we don’t care about Caddo Lake.”

Most of the commissioners who spoke felt it was too early, with nothing confirming that the planned development is actually a data center.

What data center is in Blanchard? Data center developer Stack Infrastructure linked to Caddo, Bossier land deals.

Crackman, however, said the resolution had nothing to do with Blanchard Utilities, or the data centers. “We all say how much we care about Caddo Lake, but if we’re not willing to discuss it, how much do we really care?” A sentence that drew applause from the audience.

He was asking for a pause so that “intelligent” people could study what he said was one of the most active things he had done since becoming commissioner.

This tacit repeal of Crackman’s statute resonated as the Blanchard region struggled with a water crisis.

Does Blanchard have a problem with water?

Blanchard Mayor Jim Galambo said Facebook on February 1 that Blanchard Water System There was a problem with the product Local municipalities.

On Monday, Feb. 2, Gambo told the Shreveport Times that Blanchard Water Systems had some problems with production, including equipment, due to cold weather at the plant.

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

As of Monday, water disruptions forced the water system to drain tanks after a leak was discovered.

Blanchard Water Crisis: Water outages at Blanchard Utilites affect several towns, closing schools

“We’re struggling,” Galambo said. “We had to go look for leaks. We finally found them all, and we have crews on site. We’re getting them to repair it.”

Mooringsport Mayor Ty Gordon posted on Facebook, “Currently, Mooringsport and Oil City are still closed… There is no exact timeline for restoration at this time.”

Herndon Magnet School, Mooringsport Elementary School, Blanchard Elementary School, Donnie Bickham Middle School and Northwood High School were canceled due to this water outage.

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

Crackman, who proposed the moratorium, told the Times in an earlier interview that he had received calls from environmentalists who oppose the data center and that Caddo Lake cannot sustain the millions of gallons of daily discharge under the developer’s contract with Blanchard.

“Let’s get qualified people to assess what the lake can or cannot take before we arbitrarily move against the data center,” Crackman said. “I want to weigh and measure whether it’s okay, and I think everyone can appreciate taking a pause and getting some facts together.”

A measure similar to that proposed by Crackman in New Orleans led to the cancellation of the data center project.

Is a data center planned for the Blanchard area?

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

Stack Infrastructure, a Denver-based digital infrastructure company, is connected to the purchases through SAC III Acquisition Company LLC, which is listed in multiple purchase agreements for assets intended for data center development in northwest Louisiana.

SAC III Acquisition Co. Listed as the buyer in several transactions in Caddo Parish and Bossier Parish, including more than 500 acres at the corner of Blanchard Latex and Stateline Roads in Blanchard. The property sits on the Louisiana-Texas border.

Public records show the SAC III acquisition company lists its address as 1700 Broadway, Suite 1750, Denver, Colorado, the same address used by 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 key markets in the Americas, Europe, 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 originally appeared in the Shreveport Times: Caddo Commission Kills Caddo Lake Proposal Without Debate