How Native American Tribes Are Easing Small Town Water Worries in Oklahoma

• Logan Layden
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  Logan Layden is a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma. He is a native of McAlester, Oklahoma and graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2009. Logan spent three years as a state capitol reporter and local host of All Things Considered for NPR member station KGOU in Norman and six years as a reporter with StateImpact from 2011 to 2017. Most recently, he was news director for McAlester Radio before returning to public radio in 2020.

Logan Layden / StateImpact Oklahoma

Duane Smith, water consultant for the Chickasaw Tribe, in front of Hillside Spring at the Chickasaw National Recreation Area in Sulphur, Okla.

Oklahoma’s water infrastructure needs are daunting, and replacing wastewater treatment plants, filtration systems, and pipelines is expensive.

That’s especially for smaller communities with just a few thousand residents to cover millions of dollars in costs.

There is federal and state aid available, but for some, turning to tribal governments is also an option.