 Director's Corner
Our Most Precious Liquid Asset
We had a great Vision North Texas Regional Summit recently. Thanks to the many volunteers and staff who made it possible.
At the end of the morning, participants used keypad polling to respond to a variety of questions. They first considered a range of potential development scenarios, from “business as usual” to a greener region. Then they considered which issues were most important for Vision North Texas to measure as we examine the performance of these alternative scenarios over the next several months.
Among the 16 issues listed were revitalizing downtowns, enabling residents to walk/bike to jobs, and locating new homes/jobs near rail. Participants were asked to rate how important it was to measure each issue—with the highest rating possible being it’s “essential to evaluate” this issue.
As might be expected, minimizing traffic congestion and improving air quality got high ratings, with 80 percent rating these as essential to evaluate. But they tied for 3rd.
Taking the top two slots in terms of importance to evaluate, according to Summit participants, were issues related to water.
The second-ranked issue (84 percent rating this as essential) was protecting water quality in streams and lakes.
And drumroll… the top-ranked issue (90 percent rating this as essential) was conserving the region’s water supply.
In these troubled times, we can’t ignore our most precious liquid asset – water.
John Promise, P.E.
Director of Environment and Development
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