TEMPLE — José O. Dodier Jr. of Zapata was re-elected on May 4, 2021 to serve a two-year term on the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB). Dodier represents TSSWCB Area III, which consists of 50 counties and 46 Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) in the Gulf Coast and South Texas Plains region of the state.
Prior to his service on the TSSWCB, Dodier served three years as President and Immediate Past President of the Association of Texas Soil and Water Conservation Districts (ATSWCD). Dodier is also Chairman of the Zapata Soil and Water Conservation District and has been a member for 30 years.
Dodier, who has been a member of the TSSWCB since May of 2005, is a partner in the Don José Land & Cattle Company in Zapata County, which the Dodier family has been operating for over 80 years. The ranching enterprise is a conservation-driven, cow-calf operation that produces commercial Charbray cattle.
Dodier is also a member on the Board of Directors of the South Texas Workforce Solutions. Workforce Solutions for South Texas is a local organization that implements a system of services to increase community economic development in Jim Hogg, Webb and Zapata Counties.
On the national level, Dodier is a former member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) where he served for eight years as well as serving on the NACD Executive Board.
Dodier and his wife Janeann, have a daughter, Danielle Dodier Pena and grandchildren Sofia and Ace Pena.
Since its beginning, the TSSWCB has been governed by five board members. Each respective board member is elected in a convention type election by delegates from soil and water conservation district directors within the state district that the member resides. However, with the enactment of S.B. 1828 by the 78th Legislature, two Governor appointees also serve on the TSSWCB to create a seven-member board.
TSSWCB established in 1939, administers Texas’ soil and water conservation law and delivers coordinated natural resource conservation programs through the State’s 216 Soil and Water Conservation Districts. Additionally, TSSWCB is the lead agency for planning, implementing, and managing programs for preventing and abating agricultural and silvicultural nonpoint sources of water pollution. TSSWCB also works to ensure that the State’s network of 2,000 flood control dams are protecting lives and property by providing operation, maintenance, and structural repair grants to local government sponsors.
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