On paper, it looks like two environmental agencies received funding boosts, but a closer look at the numbers shows the increases aren’t what they appear.
Oil and gas are endangering the state’s streams, soil, and wetlands. Not by polluting them — that’s a different argument — but because plummeting oil prices have blown a billion dollar hole in Oklahoma’s budget.
Governor Mary Fallin on Tuesday announced $1.8 million from the state emergency fund — which will qualify Oklahoma for even more in federal money — to fix 65 dams.
Cox, a Republican from Grove, envisions a much more grandiose, and some would say outlandish idea to solve Oklahoma’s water problems for good.
Explore Oklahoma’s dams with StateImpact’s interactive map detailing their age, type, owner, hazard classification and reported failures.
For many, it’s been decades since that risk was determined, and the potential hazard has changed because Oklahoma has changed.
The past week has seen Oklahoma secure more than $37 million in federal funding for dam improvements across the state and for water system repairs in communities with aging pipes and treatment plants.
More farmers and new farming practices conspired to doom the reservoir. So why didn’t the lawmakers who fought for the project and the engineers who built it see the failure coming?
