After five years of confidential negotiations, the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations have reached an agreement with the State of Oklahoma over water in southeast Oklahoma. The deal has been praised by state leaders as a historic accord that ends the tribes’ lawsuit that blocked Oklahoma City’s plan to pump water out of the region. But the deal still has to be sold to tribe members in that part of the state.

Cox, a Republican from Grove, envisions a much more grandiose, and some would say outlandish idea to solve Oklahoma’s water problems for good.

Some of the best new oil and gas plays are in some of the most remote areas of the country.

Construction of the southern portion of TransCanada’s Keystone XL Pipeline has been underway since August, and crews in Oklahoma started laying, welding, inspecting and burying the bright, teal-green pipeline in November.