{"id":26044,"date":"2016-02-04T14:39:08","date_gmt":"2016-02-04T20:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=26044"},"modified":"2016-02-04T14:42:24","modified_gmt":"2016-02-04T20:42:24","slug":"why-continued-state-funding-cuts-could-squeeze-programs-protecting-public-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2016\/02\/04\/why-continued-state-funding-cuts-could-squeeze-programs-protecting-public-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Continued State Funding Cuts Could Squeeze Programs Protecting Public Water"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_26046\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26046\" alt=\"Tim Cross, chief operator of the water treatment plant in Chandler, Okla.\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/20160120-chandler-water-pics042_WEB.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/20160120-chandler-water-pics042_WEB.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/20160120-chandler-water-pics042_WEB-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/20160120-chandler-water-pics042_WEB-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/20160120-chandler-water-pics042_WEB-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Joe Wertz \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tim Cross, chief operator of the water treatment plant in Chandler, Okla.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>Many of the programs protecting Oklahoma\u2019s air and land are paid for with fees and federal dollars. Oversight and inspection of local water systems, however, are funded by state revenue that has dwindled \u2014 and failed.<\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/245464023&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><p><!--more-->Chandler, a city of about 3,000 residents, like many small communities in Oklahoma, has struggled with deteriorating pipes and pumps, limited funding to make repairs and upgrades, and increasing demands to provide clean water to more and more customers.<\/p><p>The Chandler treatment plant provides water to its municipal customers, but the plant has also been tapped to deliver water to three rural water districts and residents in the nearby town of Davenport, says Chief Operator Tim Cross.<\/p><p>\u201cWe\u2019re stretched out,\u201d he says during a routine Department of Environmental Quality inspection conducted in January 2016.<\/p><p>Chandler has something else in common with a lot of small communities across the state: This water treatment plant is under a consent order from the Oklahoma DEQ \u2014 a type of legally binding improvement plan for local regulators struggling to meet federal water quality standards. There are 101 public water systems and 132 municipal wastewater systems under such consent orders, records show.<\/p><p>DEQ regional manager Vance Pennington led the inspection of the Chandler water plant. Pennington supervises a team of staffers who make sure local water regulators like Cross follow the rules and verify that water is safe to drink, and that wastewater discharged into streams and rivers isn\u2019t polluted<\/p><p>Pennington records sensor readouts, asks questions and examines equipment. He checks out a room where hazardous chlorine gas is fed into pipes. The room\u2019s exhaust fan and lighting pass muster, but he found a propped up wooden board filling in for a broken door latch.<\/p><p>\u201cThat\u2019ll be a maintenance issue,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a small thing, but it\u2019s something I\u2019ll have to make sure they fix.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26047\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26047\" alt=\"Vance Pennington, a regional manager for the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, inspects a chlorine treatment system at a water treatment plant in Chandler, Okla.\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/20160120-chandler-water-pics022_WEB.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/20160120-chandler-water-pics022_WEB.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/20160120-chandler-water-pics022_WEB-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/20160120-chandler-water-pics022_WEB-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/20160120-chandler-water-pics022_WEB-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Joe Wertz \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vance Pennington, a regional manager for the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, inspects a chlorine treatment system at a water treatment plant in Chandler, Okla.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Small suffering<\/h3><p>DEQ, like many government agencies in Oklahoma, has faced years of cuts to its state appropriation and revolving funds. Federal money and fees provide most of the funding for DEQ\u2019s air and land-protection divisions, but programs designed to regulate local drinking water and wastewater operations are funded primarily through legislative appropriations that have declined by roughly 30 percent since 2009.<\/p><p>\u201cWhat will suffer in the longer term if we continue to receive general revenue cuts, is our ability to do some of the things that especially the smaller communities rely on the most,\u201d says DEQ Deputy Director Jimmy Givens.<\/p><p>That stream of general appropriations has shrunk from tax cuts and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwja_8nyzt7KAhUEzWMKHb7vBHgQFggkMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewsok.com%2Farticle%2F5468188&usg=AFQjCNFP0xp58Bzg7Aqxpce8i-r67irp7Q&sig2=mmYLhjxHCr9wWvkudk-FoQ\">structural changes<\/a> to the state budget, and pushed to the brink by crashing oil prices. In December 2015, state finance officials <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi94rCTz97KAhUY9WMKHdNPA0AQFggyMAM&url=http%3A%2F%2Fkgou.org%2Fpost%2Fodot-preparing-effects-revenue-failure&usg=AFQjCNGsU4pKoJ_53CazYV_dJUy6wjxq2Q&sig2=Sz2oCXKMWrWAELj74JxIzA\">declared a revenue failure<\/a> and predicted a nearly $1 billion budget gap. Things could get worse next year, finance officials say.<\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content alignright\">\n<h4 class=\"related-header\">Related<\/h4>\n<div class=\"links\">\n<h5>Posts<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2016\/01\/28\/regulator-says-budget-cuts-could-imperil-vital-water-monitoring-programs\/\">Regulator Says Budget Cuts Could Imperil Vital Water-Monitoring Programs<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2016\/01\/21\/budget-crisis-could-hinder-states-ability-to-manage-floods-and-protect-streams\/\">Budget Crisis Could Hinder State&#8217;s Ability to Manage Floods and Protect Streams<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"topics\">\n<h5>Topics<\/h5>\n<p class=\"topic\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2014\/08\/20140814-ScenicRivers002_WEB.jpg\" height=\"60\" width=\"60\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/topic\/scenic-rivers-series\/\">The History and Future of Oklahoma&#8217;s Scenic Rivers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><p>Givens says, so far, the impact of the appropriation cuts has\u00a0been \u201cmodest.\u201d The agency used to have 39 field offices around the state; it now has 22. The number of staffers charged with local inspections and responding to complaints has dropped from 89 to 58. DEQ has managed to keep alive its most critical water programs, but Givens says it could be hard to continue to do so if state funding keeps decreasing at the same time federal water mandates are increasing.<\/p><p>\u201cThe EPA has the residual right to come in and do enforcement,\u201d Givens says. \u201cNobody particularly wants that.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Fines, fixes<\/h3><p>Back in Chandler, supervisor Pennington has moved down the road to inspect the city\u2019s sewage treatment plant. Once treated, the water from the smelly sludge in a series of waist-high concrete vats will be piped into a nearby stream.<\/p><p>A loud whooshing sound grabs Pennington\u2019s attention and he runs his hand underneath a tangle of pipes. \u201cIt\u2019s a small leak, but it needs to be looked at,\u201d he says.<\/p><p>Pennington records the violation, like he did earlier when he found the faulty door at the water plant. He will return to make sure the operator makes the repairs, but Pennington says fining the small city won\u2019t help it fix the problems.<\/p><p>\u201cSmall towns have small budgets. That\u2019s a lot of the reason for the problems with their systems,\u201d Pennington says. \u201cWe do issue fines when we need to, but we\u2019re usually more focused on working with them to get things up and running.\u201d<\/p><p>If state revenue cuts persist and EPA intervenes, Pennington says communities like Chandler would likely face less cooperative inspectors \u2014 from the federal government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chandler, a city of about 3,000 residents, like many small communities in Oklahoma, has struggled with deteriorating pipes and pumps, limited funding to make repairs and upgrades, and increasing demands to provide clean water to more and more customers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":26046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[491],"tags":[499,495,427,600],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26044"}],"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\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26044"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26053,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26044\/revisions\/26053"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}