{"id":23253,"date":"2015-03-12T06:00:31","date_gmt":"2015-03-12T11:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=23253"},"modified":"2015-03-12T11:17:53","modified_gmt":"2015-03-12T16:17:53","slug":"why-fort-smith-arkansas-is-planning-oklahomas-next-lake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2015\/03\/12\/why-fort-smith-arkansas-is-planning-oklahomas-next-lake\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Oklahoma&#8217;s Newest Lake Might be Built by Fort Smith, Arkansas"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_23274\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-23274\" alt=\"Fort Smith Public Utilities Director Steve Parke. \" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/03\/20150312-LeeCreek003_WEB-620x412.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"412\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fort Smith Public Utilities Director Steve Parke.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>In Oklahoma, the natural beauty of Lee Creek \u2014 one of the state\u2019s scenic rivers \u2014 is protected by state law. In Arkansas, Lee Creek is an important water source for fast-growing Fort Smith. Now, <a title=\"SWtimesLink\" href=\"http:\/\/swtimes.com\/news\/fort-smith-eyes-oklahoma-land-future-water-project\" target=\"_blank\">Fort Smith has a plan<\/a> to turn Lee Creek into Oklahoma\u2019s next lake, and reignite a dispute that was settled more than 20 years ago.<\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/195465765&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=false\" height=\"150\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><!--more-->A decades-old fight<\/h3><p>If Fort Smith had its way in late &#8217;80s and early &#8217;90s, there\u2019d already be a large reservoir on the Arkansas-Oklahoma border. The city\u2019s plan back then was for a <a title=\"OpenJuristLink\" href=\"http:\/\/openjurist.org\/912\/f2d\/1471\/national-wildlife-federation-v-federal-energy-regulatory-commission\" target=\"_blank\">lake much larger<\/a> than the current Lee Creek Reservoir, which would spill into hundreds of acres of Sequoyah County \u2014 in Oklahoma.<\/p><p>Jay Hannah is part of the reason why Fort Smith&#8217;s plans were never realized.<\/p><p>\u201cThey had a rather ambitious plan,\u201d Hannah tells StateImpact. \u201cMy recollection from the early &#8217;90s and reading through the materials is that they had a plan to increase the height of the impoundment, and therefore be able to adjust the flowage so that they could increase the volume of the lake. Ed and I denied that request.\u201d<\/p><p>He\u2019s talking about Ed Fite, who, along with Hannah, made up a two-man Lee Creek Commission appointed by Oklahoma&#8217;s then-Gov. David Walters. Their orders: Take a hard line against Fort Smith\u2019s designs on Lee Creek.<\/p><p>\u201cJust vote no,\u201d Fite says about the committee&#8217;s instructions at the time.<\/p><p>At the time, Oklahoma wasn\u2019t in the mood to negotiate over Lee Creek. The whole reason for the commission was <a title=\"NewsOKlink\" href=\"http:\/\/newsok.com\/lee-creek-dam-due-dedication\/article\/2408877\" target=\"_blank\">Arkansas had just dammed the river<\/a> after years of resistance from environmental groups and the State of Oklahoma that culminated in a federal lawsuit and an 11th-hour agreement.<\/p><p>\u201cThat case was docketed in Denver, Colorado,\u201d Hannah says. \u201cAnd the attorney general of Oklahoma and the attorney general of Arkansas were on their way into the courtroom when they met in the hallway and said, you know, we\u2019ve been neighbors here for a long time, maybe we should have an amicable discussion about Lee Creek.\u201d<\/p><p>The two attorneys general decided Fort Smith could have the dam that created the current reservoir, but any future expansion would require Oklahoma\u2019s approval. Fite, who now serves as executive director of the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission, has <a title=\"OKlegalLink\" href=\"http:\/\/oklegal.onenet.net\/oklegal-cgi\/get_statute?99\/Title.82\/82-1453.html\" target=\"_blank\">that section of state law<\/a> bookmarked:<\/p><p>\u201cThe stream or river shall not be impounded by any large dam or structure, except as specifically authorized by the legislature,\u201d Fite reads from a book of Oklahoma statutes.<\/p><p>The law carves out another exception for communities wanting to use a scenic river as a water supply, but only if the project doesn\u2019t \u201csignificantly interfere with the preservation of the stream as a scenic, free-flowing stream.\u201d<\/p><p>Fite says Lee Creek changes as it approaches the current reservoir.<\/p><p>\u201cAs I get closer to Webber Creek, the characteristics of the Lee Creek as a free-flowing stream have been all but negated because of the impoundment downstream,\u201d Fite says. \u201cIt looks like a river, but it\u2019s really just water that\u2019s being held back.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_23260\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-23260\" alt=\"The current Lee Creek Reservoir near Van Buren, Ark. \" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/03\/20150312-LeeCreek001_WEB-620x412.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"412\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The current Lee Creek Reservoir near Van Buren, Ark.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Round two begins<\/h3><p>He says enlarging the reservoir would damage the natural flow of Lee Creek. For more than 20 years Fort Smith hasn\u2019t tried, until now. Fort Smith\u2019s Public Utilities Director, Steve Parke, confirms the city is in the process of buying land to expand the lake. And the land it\u2019s buying is in Oklahoma.<\/p><p>\u201cRecently we had three property owners who desired to sell their property to Fort Smith for that future purpose, and we picked up another 70-plus acres,\u201d Parke says. \u201cAnd we still have about another 600-acres, going from memory, that would have to be acquired.\u201d<\/p><p>So Oklahoma\u2019s next lake could belong to Arkansas. The process will take decades, and there are a myriad of obstacles that could get in the way of Fort Smith\u2019s plans. Ed Fite is one of those obstacles.<\/p><p>\u201cWhen I float the Lee Creek in a canoe or a kayak, the water has kind of a blue glacier cast to it. It\u2019s not as crystal clear as the Illinois will be this time of year. It has kind of a fog to it,\u201d Fite says.<\/p><p>And there\u2019s another player here who could have a big say in whether Lee Creek gets turned into a much larger lake.<\/p><p>\u201cThe other gorilla in the closet is going to be the Cherokee Nation,\u201d Fite says. \u201cThe Cherokee Nation is not the Cherokee Nation of the &#8217;80s now.\u201d<\/p><p>He describes the cobblestone river bottom that narrows and widens as Lee Creek meanders along the Arkansas-Oklahoma line, a reminder of how arbitrary the border is when it comes to water.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Oklahoma, the natural beauty of Lee Creek \u2014 one of the state\u2019s scenic rivers \u2014 is protected by state law. In Arkansas, Lee Creek is an important water source for fast-growing Fort Smith. Now, Fort Smith has a plan to turn Lee Creek into Oklahoma\u2019s next lake, and reignite a dispute that was settled [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[491],"tags":[622,427],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23253"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23253"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23279,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23253\/revisions\/23279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}