{"id":17237,"date":"2013-11-07T08:11:14","date_gmt":"2013-11-07T14:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=17237"},"modified":"2013-11-07T09:39:48","modified_gmt":"2013-11-07T15:39:48","slug":"canton-businessowners-on-the-brink-months-after-oklahoma-city-water-withdrawl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2013\/11\/07\/canton-businessowners-on-the-brink-months-after-oklahoma-city-water-withdrawl\/","title":{"rendered":"Canton Businesses on the Brink Months After Oklahoma City Water Withdrawal"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jeff<\/p>\n

Joe Wertz \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n

Jeff Converse of the Canton Lake Association stands in front of a boat ramp he says has been surrounded by mud and weeds since Oklahoma City withdrew water from the lake in January.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Canton, Oklahoma \u2014 population 625 \u2014 is a town on the brink. Canton relies on lake season, and lake season never really got started this year.<\/p>

At the first of the year, Oklahoma City took water from Canton Lake<\/a> to meet demand at the height of the drought. While that decision kept faucets flowing in the metro, it threatens the very existence of Canton the community.<\/p>

<\/p>\n

\"Ron<\/p>\n

Joe Wertz \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n

Ron Chapdelaine, the owner of Canton Foods, says customers left when the lake levels dropped.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Ron Chapdelaine owns Canton Foods, the only grocery store in town.<\/p>

\u201cWe\u2019re basically just trying to survive until better days with the lake coming back,\u201d says Ron Chapdelaine, owner of the only grocery store in town. \u201cYou make your money in the summertime to survive the wintertime. The population doubles in the summertime, so it\u2019s 50 percent of our business.\u201d<\/p>

The population doubles because of outdoor tourism. Jeff Converse, who lives in Woodward but owns a trailer on Canton Lake, says this year wasn\u2019t the first time<\/a> Oklahoma City used the lake\u2019s water, but it was the worst time.<\/p>

\u201cThat was what I call the \u2018kill shot\u2019 release, because this is the one that took the lake level to the point where it made the lake unusable,\u201d Converse says.<\/p>\n

\"Alan<\/p>\n

Joe Wertz \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n

Alan Cox had to close his Overlook Cafe early due to poor lake tourism.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Few Options for Anyone<\/h3>

This was Alan Cox\u2019s 20th\u00a0year running the Overlook Caf\u00e9 just off the dam near where the shoreline used to be. He says business has been horrible. Usually he closes up at the end of October, but not this year.<\/p>

\u201cI closed in September, because there just wasn\u2019t nothing. You know, there was no business,\u201d Cox says.<\/p>

He helps organize the annual Walleye Rodeo fishing derby, the town\u2019s biggest even. But this year\u2019s was a dud.<\/p>

\u201cWe usually register 1,200 or so fishermen. I think we registered 200 and some. I run the store here, and my business was down 70 percent this summer,\u201d Cox says.<\/p>\n

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