On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Tarrant v. Herrmann, an Oklahoma-Texas water fight with national implications. The justices grappled with the 30-year-old Red River Compact, and whether a region of Texas can reach across state lines to access water in southeastern Oklahoma. The two states have different interpretations of some language in [...]
Oklahoma faces an estimated $43 billion in repairs and upgrades to aging water systems across the state.
The Water for 2060 Act has survived a repeal effort from Oklahoma State Representative Paul Wesselholft, R-Moore. Wesselhoft confirmed to StateImpact on Thursday that his repeal bill will not be voted on by the full House, even though it passed through the Administrative Rules and Government Oversight Committee by a 9-1 vote. The Water for 2060 Act [...]
Municipal Water Rates – 2012 There are more than 750 local water authorities in Oklahoma. There isn’t a comprehensive database of water costs, but data from the Oklahoma Municipal League offers a snapshot of the rates residential and business customers pay each month. The data, based on surveys the Municipal League conducts every other year, [...]
In many ways, the history of Oklahoma is a story of water. Our geography is drawn by rivers and streams. And our cultural legacy is informed by drought. History, money and consumption have shaped Oklahoma water policy. Here’s a look at the role each part plays in the plan policymakers are writing to protect what former governor [...]
A Oklahoma House committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would repeal the Water for 2060 Act, the state’s long-term water management plan. House Bill 1562, authored by State Rep. Paul Wesselhoft, R-Moore, would remove three sections of the law, which was enacted in 2012. The bill would strike language concerning the state’s 50-year conservation [...]
The land above the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer — perhaps Oklahoma’s most sensitive water resource — is dotted with great chasms, some empty, some filled with groundwater that’s seeped in. It’s the result of pit mining by mostly out-of-state companies eager to get their hands on the area’s rich deposits of silica sand, often used for hydraulic [...]
Water is more than a commodity, it’s a precious natural resource that impacts the lives and economic potential of communities and everyday Oklahomans. And Oklahoma’s ongoing drought has turned water concerns into prescient policy issues. In November, Oklahomans will vote on State Question 764. A ‘yes’ vote will allow the state Water Resources Board to [...]
State officials, meteorologists and climate researchers say Oklahoma’s water needs are going to increase exponentially over the next century. Oklahoma’s population is projected to grow by almost 50 percent by 2075, according to state estimates. But the state isn’t getting any wetter. Water authorities in Oklahoma say there’s potential to build 68 new reservoirs. That would be [...]
The architects of the state’s golden age of reservoir construction, Governor Robert S. Kerr and U.S. Rep. Carl Albert, lived in an Oklahoma crippled with drought and choked by its own soil. The Dust Bowl played a prominent role in both men’s push for more reservoir construction. But, surprisingly, another factor influenced the manmade lake [...]
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