{"id":26576,"date":"2016-05-12T10:23:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-12T15:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=26576"},"modified":"2016-05-13T09:46:13","modified_gmt":"2016-05-13T14:46:13","slug":"next-republican-house-leader-has-roots-in-southeastern-oklahoma-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2016\/05\/12\/next-republican-house-leader-has-roots-in-southeastern-oklahoma-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Next Republican House Leader Has Roots in Southeastern Oklahoma Water"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_26591\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26591\" alt=\"Rep. Charles McCall, R-Atoka, in early May was tapped by his republican colleagues to be their next leader. \" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/05\/20160511-speaker-mccall010_WEB.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/05\/20160511-speaker-mccall010_WEB.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/05\/20160511-speaker-mccall010_WEB-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/05\/20160511-speaker-mccall010_WEB-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/05\/20160511-speaker-mccall010_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\">Rep. Charles McCall, R-Atoka, in early May was tapped by his republican colleagues to be their next leader.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>Republicans in the Oklahoma House of Representatives <a title=\"KGOUlink\" href=\"http:\/\/kgou.org\/post\/republicans-elect-atoka-s-charles-mccall-next-oklahoma-house-speaker#stream\/0\" target=\"_blank\">last week chose a new leader<\/a> for 2017: Charles McCall. The Republican is from Atoka in southeast Oklahoma, which could bring a unique perspective on water to the capitol.<\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/263780221&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=\" height=\"150\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>Big fights back home<\/h3><p>In the mid-20th\u00a0century, eastern Oklahoma water warrior <a title=\"StateImpactLink\" href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2012\/09\/27\/why-oklahoma-built-more-lakes-than-any-other-state\/\" target=\"_blank\">Robert S. Kerr<\/a> was fond of calling water Oklahoma\u2019s most important, God-given resource. Charles McCall feels the same way.\u201c<\/p><p>\u201cIt\u2019s our most precious resource in the state of Oklahoma in my opinion,\u201d McCall says.<\/p><p>Being a water advocate comes with representing southeast Oklahoma. That\u2019s particularly true for McCall, whose House district includes Atoka Lake<\/p><p>\u201cThe area that I represent \u2014 water plays a tremendous role in our largest industries, agriculture and tourism,\u201d McCall says.<\/p><p>His district also includes the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer. The lake and the aquifer are at the epicenter of two of the state\u2019s biggest water fights: One over <a title=\"StateImpactLink\" href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/tag\/tribal-water-lawsuit\/\" target=\"_blank\">whether the state or the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations control southeast Oklahoma\u2019s water<\/a>; and the other over the <a title=\"StateImpactLink\" href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/tag\/pit-mining\/\" target=\"_blank\">aquifer\u2019s depletion due to mining.<\/a><\/p><p>McCall doesn\u2019t slam the door on the idea of pumping southeast Oklahoma\u2019s water to meet the needs of Oklahoma City or drought-prone western parts of the state. But he speaks cautiously.<\/p><p>\u201cWe have to be very diligent and very smart with how we manage it and how we consume it,\u201d McCall says. \u201cIf southwest Oklahoma is experiencing drought conditions it\u2019s very likely that southeast Oklahoma is also.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_16427\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-16427\" alt=\"A portion of Atoka Lake from January 2013. Oklahoma City has been using Atoka Lake water for decades. \" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2013\/09\/AtokaPic.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2013\/09\/AtokaPic.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2013\/09\/AtokaPic-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2013\/09\/AtokaPic-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2013\/09\/AtokaPic-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Pennie Embrey<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A portion of Atoka Lake from January 2013, during the most recent drought. Oklahoma City has been using Atoka Lake water for decades.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>The presumptive House speaker hasn\u2019t taken a strong public stand on whether or not state or tribal governments ought to control water across his part of the state.<\/p><p>\u201cThe courts will decide that,\u201d McCall says. \u201cI\u2019m not involved in any of the lawsuits, but overall it\u2019s a great illustration of how valuable that natural resource is.\u201d<\/p><p>McCall is a very tall man, measured and diplomatic in his responses. But water advocates in southeast Oklahoma who want to keep water from leaving the area tell me they\u2019re thrilled he\u2019ll be the next speaker. One reason is McCall\u2019s stand on the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer issue StateImpact has covered thoroughly.<\/p>\n<h3>Facts before ideology<\/h3><p>Limestone and sand mining are big business in McCall\u2019s district, but the process was depleting the aquifer, the main water source for towns like Ada and Tishomingo. McCall didn\u2019t side with the big mining companies; he supported limits on the amount of aquifer water they could use \u2014 the maximum annual yield of the Arbuckle-Simpson. This upset out-of-state mining companies because it disrupts their usual process for getting limestone.<\/p><p>\u201cWe relied on the science in that project, and that science was done before I actually came into the House of Representatives. But the science supported those findings and the maximum annual yield,\u201d McCall says.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_13614\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13614\" alt=\"After this quarry near a U.S. Silica sand mining operation was mined out, clear blue aquifer water filled it in.\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2013\/03\/MiningTopicPhoto.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2013\/03\/MiningTopicPhoto.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2013\/03\/MiningTopicPhoto-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2013\/03\/MiningTopicPhoto-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2013\/03\/MiningTopicPhoto-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\">After this quarry near a U.S. Silica sand mining operation was mined out, clear blue aquifer water filled it in.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>Additionally, McCall authored a bill to allow counties to <a title=\"StateImpactLink\" href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2015\/03\/05\/new-severance-tax-on-limestone-miners-gets-through-full-oklahoma-house\/\" target=\"_blank\">impose a severance tax<\/a> on limestone mined in Oklahoma, but sold elsewhere.<\/p><p>\u201cA little bit of the problem we\u2019ve had with those materials is anything that leaves the state of Oklahoma \u2014 all the sales tax dollars follow that to the point of destination,\u201d McCall says. \u201cSo Oklahoma loses out o n the revenue. The local level \u2014 the counties and the municipalities \u2014 lose out as well. And they\u2019ve lost a resource.\u201d<\/p><p>McCall says it wouldn\u2019t be a tax, but a fee, and could only be assessed if the people of a county voted to allow it. To some, the fact that the incoming Republican Speaker of the Oklahoma House has supported anything that smells remotely like a new tax on industry is surprising. But McCall says the people of Oklahoma are looking for leadership, not strict partisan ideology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Republican is from Atoka in southeast Oklahoma, which could bring a unique perspective on water to the capitol.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":26591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[491],"tags":[662,35,445,508,427],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26576"}],"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=26576"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26608,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26576\/revisions\/26608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}