The City of San Angelo is yet to inform the public of their need to purchase a permit to use Twin Buttes Reservoir for any purpose starting September 1st. The notice is on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website and nowhere else. The only reason I knew was local outdoor sports columnist Bill Cullins gave me a head's up. It is the subject of his upcoming column in the
Standard Times.
Having already received one ticket for paddle boarding without a personal flotation device (while standing on a 220 liter personal flotation device), I chose to buy my $12 limited use pass before our upcoming Labor Day weekend. I purchased the $12 pass online for $17.
The City's Lake Parks and Lake Operations web pages only reference hunting at Twin Buttes. Here's the language:
Hunters should follow state hunting regulations as prescribed by the
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The TPWD website's hunting page can
be found at this link.
There is no information on the requirement that recreational users or people wanting to see the water level after a rain buy an annual permit starting Thursday, September 1st.
The City created this program alongside the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and TPWD. Labor Day weekend begins September 2nd, the day after the new program goes into effect. The City has a press release on offices being
closed on Labor Day but no information on the new permit required four days before the official holiday.
Citizens can't buy what they don't know. I was surprised to learn the $12 permit cost $17. It'll be worth it if TPWD officers can reduce or eliminate the bad behavior that occurs at both pools.
Update 9-1-16: San Angelo Live ran
a piece on the new Public Hunting Program.
