Should Woodlands Mud 1 & 6 Consolidate?

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- On Tuesday, June 16, 2026, at the monthly Woodlands Municipal District (MUD) 1 board meeting, a well-researched study recommending consolidation of MUD 1 with Montgomery County MUD 6 was cavalierly turned down by three of the five MUD 1 directors. Two of these three directors have but two years of limited MUD leadership experience and the third director who voted no is in his first month as an elected director, who has yet to even receive training on the role of a director. He should have abstained until he better understood the issues.

The study recommending consolidation was prepared by me, a retired professional consultant, educated as a mechanical engineer with advanced degrees in industrial management and economics. I also have over 15 years’ experience as a MUD director, president and trustee. I was the principal behind the highly successful consolidation of MUDs 2 and 40 into MUD 1. My research, with much input from Woodlands Water Agency (WWA, formerly named the Woodlands Joint Powers Agency, or WJPA) staff, was thoroughly reviewed and vetted by ten people with extensive, many years water, wastewater, and MUD leadership experience, including the attorney that created all the MUDs in The Woodlands.

MUDs were created solely for the purpose of financing new infrastructure during The Woodlands early years. They were to have no employees, and all services were to be provided by creating the WJPA. It was George Mitchell’s original vision to dissolve these MUDs after they have fulfilled their original purpose. Consolidation is the first step to dissolution

There was a strong consensus among the experienced group of ten that there is no need for 50 directors to govern 33 WWA employees – a ratio of 1.5 directors per employee – and, further, there is no justifiable reason for like MUDs to operate independently. The highly successful consolidation of MUDs 2 and 40 in 2015 was the model to follow.

In 2021, MUD 1 and MUD 6 directors approved consolidation, as did the residents in MUD 1. Due to insufficient education and a poorly worded ballot, MUD 6 residents turned it down by a mere 20 votes out of 848 votes cast. Also, there was a large undervote – people voting for other items on the ballot but not knowing anything or enough about consolidation.

The three MUD 1 directors who dismissed consolidation study recommendations got elected on the basis of their campaign slogan “WOODLANDS RESIDENTS FIRST.” The callous dismissal of even considering consolidation usurped residents right to provide any input, totally contravening their slogan. Their “no” vote also was clearly self-serving. There was and is no valid, fact-based justification for preserving the status quo. They turned a deaf ear to cost savings and the many non-economic reasons to consolidate. They are truly failing to represent the residents they campaigned to serve.

Residents in MUD 1 need to let their directors know that they are not representing the public. Let the residents decide.