The Transcript article about Norman’s future water supply.

[ou48A]

On the day that we started mandatory water restrictions in the middle of winter this seems like an urgent issue for a growing city.


Planning for Norman?s future water supply » Headlines » The Norman Transcript

[ou48A]

Ideas, solutions, and thoughts.

Drill as many wells as possible for a stop gap measure.


How could we expand the use of Gray water? We could identify places of high irrigation. As we dig up major streets for reconstruction it might be possible to install gray water lines that could eventually service more customers who could use gray water.


In the long run secure and develop a large new water source.


Should Norman really be spending millions of dollars on a luxury like a new park when we have fundamental basic needs for increased water supply?

[venture]

Drill as many wells as possible for a stop gap measure.

The underground water sources are only going to have so much supply, you can't drill out of this.

How could we expand the use of Gray water? We could identify places of high irrigation. As we dig up major streets for reconstruction it might be possible to install gray water lines that could eventually service more customers who could use gray water.

Gray water will help, but that is a lot of extra cost that you are going to ask Norman residents to pay on their utility bills.

In the long run secure and develop a large new water source.

This is probably the best option. We need to evaluate areas, if there are any along the Canadian River and such, that we can dam up and create more storage areas for water. Not to mention just the overall impact of having a full river will have on property values and such.

Should Norman really be spending millions of dollars on a luxury like a new park when we have fundamental basic needs for increased water supply?

Should Norman be approving new developments on the fringes of town that require resources when that money should stick to the urban core to upgrade services? The city is still going to have to move forward with development. Maybe we just need to make sure that anyone North of Tecumseh south to the River and between West 48th and East 36th aren't connected to the Norman water system. If you want to live there, dig a well. Stupid? Absolutely. Just like putting any other developments on hold for this.

That whole cutting off one's nose thing.

[ou48A]

The underground water sources are only going to have so much supply, you can't drill out of this.



Gray water will help, but that is a lot of extra cost that you are going to ask Norman residents to pay on their utility bills.



This is probably the best option. We need to evaluate areas, if there are any along the Canadian River and such, that we can dam up and create more storage areas for water. Not to mention just the overall impact of having a full river will have on property values and such.



Should Norman be approving new developments on the fringes of town that require resources when that money should stick to the urban core to upgrade services? The city is still going to have to move forward with development. Maybe we just need to make sure that anyone North of Tecumseh south to the River and between West 48th and East 36th aren't connected to the Norman water system. If you want to live there, dig a well. Stupid? Absolutely. Just like putting any other developments on hold for this.

That whole cutting off one's nose thing.

The underground water sources are only going to have so much supply; you can't drill out of this.

Drilling new water wells is probably the cheapest and quickest fix but it clearly isn’t going to be the solution, but it will help.

QUOTE=venture79;610148]Gray water will help, but that is a lot of extra cost that you are going to ask Norman residents to pay on their utility bills. .[/QUOTE] It would be a very slow process to expand and lines would only be run to major consumers. I suppose small users could use the service if they had a gray water line close enough to them. For example if someone lived next to a major city owned gray water line and wanted to water their yard with it that seems like it should be ok.

QUOTE=venture79;610148]This is probably the best option. We need to evaluate areas, if there are any along the Canadian River and such, that we can dam up and create more storage areas for water. Not to mention just the overall impact of having a full river will have on property values and such. .[/QUOTE]
The quality of Canadian River water is very poor and would require some very expensive equipment to clean up the water. I can tell you that I have lived in a place where Canadian river water was used from Lake Meredith in the Texas panhandle and it was terrible.
QUOTE=venture79;610148]Should Norman be approving new developments on the fringes of town that require resources when that money should stick to the urban core to upgrade services? The city is still going to have to move forward with development. Maybe we just need to make sure that anyone North of Tecumseh south to the River and between West 48th and East 36th aren't connected to the Norman water system. If you want to live there, dig a well. Stupid? Absolutely. Just like putting any other developments on hold for this. That whole cutting off one's nose thing.[/QUOTE]
Like it or not the development on the city’s fringes is going to continue unabated so we might as well concentrate on workable solutions. But over time the vacant areas will slowly fill in. New construction pays a $4000 sewage hookup fee. I am not sure, but new construction might also pay higher water rates.

[YO MUDA]

Being a Gardner at OU, everyear I hear complaints about OUs use of water. Just remember we have our own wells. Regardless, most of us tone down our water usage during the summer to only keeping shrubs, trees and flower beds alive.

[ou48A]

Being a Gardner at OU, everyear I hear complaints about OUs use of water. Just remember we have our own wells. Regardless, most of us tone down our water usage during the summer to only keeping shrubs, trees and flower beds alive.

Doesn’t OU use gray water for part of it needs?
In your estimation how hard would it be to expand gray water usage on OU’s campus?

[Dubya61]

Would the Elm Creek Reservoir service only OKC?

[Dubya61]

Being a Gardner at OU, everyear I hear complaints about OUs use of water. Just remember we have our own wells. Regardless, most of us tone down our water usage during the summer to only keeping shrubs, trees and flower beds alive.

Do those wells magically only take water that's under OU and magically not deplete the water other wells may be able to use?

[venture]

Do those wells magically only take water that's under OU and magically not deplete the water other wells may be able to use?

Exactly. I remember growing up before we had city water and some idiot would be watering their entire yard and drained the water table. Had to redrill the well to get to a better water source.

[ou48A]

Do those wells magically only take water that's under OU and magically not deplete the water other wells may be able to use?

It almost entirely depends on the geology and recharge rates of the aquifer in question.
FYI This water is being pumped from the Garber-Wellington aquifer.

[Bunty]

Norman needs to do the same as Stillwater did years ago. Find a man made lake kept fed by a major river and build a 3 ft. wide pipeline to it.

[venture]

Norman needs to do the same as Stillwater did years ago. Find a man made lake kept fed by a major river and build a 3 ft. wide pipeline to it.

If you haven't noticed, there aren't many of those in this state. LOL

[yellowfever13]

venture79, I am trying to contact you. I guess you have disabled any messaging on this forum. If you could email me at chadwilliamson1@gmail.com I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks very much!

[ou48A]

Norman needs to do the same as Stillwater did years ago. Find a man made lake kept fed by a major river and build a 3 ft. wide pipeline to it.

Which major river would that be? and what lake is this?

[Bunty]

Which major river would that be? and what lake is this?

deleted

[Bunty]

Which major river would that be? and what lake is this?

The only major river in Oklahoma is the Arkansas, the 6th longest one in the nation. The reservoir is Kaw Lake, which would probably be too far away and costly for Norman to build a pipeline to it. Interesting that the water level at Kaw Lake is only 6 inches below normal.

[ou48A]

The only major river in Oklahoma is the Arkansas, the 6th longest one in the nation. The reservoir is Kaw Lake, which would probably be too far away and costly for Norman to build a pipeline to it. Interesting that the water level at Kaw Lake is only 6 inches below normal.

During heavy rains the Arkansas River picks up a lot of salt near Hutchinson Kansas…
It also picks up a lot of farm pollution run off….

I use to swim and fish in Kaw Lake but I stopped when I realized that that the toilet content of my numerous Kansas relatives
was in that lake.

Note to self, drink only bottled water while in Stillwater.

[venture]

Note to self, drink only bottled water while in Stillwater.

Stoolwater in Stillwater?

I really think at some point we need to start building more water reservoirs in this state. From what I keep hearing, SE OK is the best place for that to happen. We don't have the luxury of the Great Lakes to feed us fresh drinking water, but whose to say we can' expand our own lake system to help compensate.

[ou48A]

I really think at some point we need to start building more water reservoirs in this state. From what I keep hearing, SE OK is the best place for that to happen. We don't have the luxury of the Great Lakes to feed us fresh drinking water, but whose to say we can' expand our own lake system to help compensate.

I agree with you about the need to build more reservoirs in Oklahoma.

However finding enough money won’t be easy. But much tougher would be to overcome all the new environmental laws and regulations in place. The Endangered Species Act needs to be reformed because it’s made it very difficult to construct new dams.



On the link below is an article disusing difficulties along with a map of potential Oklahoma dam sites.

The Barriers to Another Reservoir Building Boom in Oklahoma | StateImpact Oklahoma

[venture]

I agree with you about the need to build more reservoirs in Oklahoma.

However finding enough money won’t be easy. But much tougher would be to overcome all the new environmental laws and regulations in place. The Endangered Species Act needs to be reformed because it’s made it very difficult to construct new dams.

On the link below is an article disusing difficulties along with a map of potential Oklahoma dam sites.

The Barriers to Another Reservoir Building Boom in Oklahoma | StateImpact Oklahoma

Money shouldn't be that hard to find, but with them refunding taxes to Oil/Gas companies (up to what...96% for 2012) doesn't help matters. What's more important...drinking water for people or making sure Devon is all cushy in their pretty new tower.

[ou48A]

Stoolwater in Stillwater?

As an avid follower of the Sooners I have enjoyed watching 3 of 4 parts of the OU produced history of OU football series. According to the film one hundred or more years ago a football game was often a side note to the main event which was a debate between the 2 universities. Out of the debates came university chants and cheers that were used later at the football games. Some of these chants and cheers still live on today at various university’s across the nation often reflecting something about that state or university’s heritage. One such OU chant that the OU debate team came up with went as follows………

Stillwater! Stalewater! Muddy water too!
A. and M. College is a Stale-water slough!

I guess the more something’s change the more some stay the same even after all these years.
The OU debate team must be pretty good, because they have won several recent national championships.

[Bunty]

During heavy rains the Arkansas River picks up a lot of salt near Hutchinson Kansas…
It also picks up a lot of farm pollution run off….

I use to swim and fish in Kaw Lake but I stopped when I realized that that the toilet content of my numerous Kansas relatives
was in that lake.

Note to self, drink only bottled water while in Stillwater.

You make a good case for OSU campus housing, since OSU gets its water from nearby Blackwell Lake and probably doesn't fluoridate its water, unlike Stillwater.

[Dubya61]

During heavy rains the Arkansas River picks up a lot of salt near Hutchinson Kansas…
It also picks up a lot of farm pollution run off….

I use to swim and fish in Kaw Lake but I stopped when I realized that that the toilet content of my numerous Kansas relatives
was in that lake.

Note to self, drink only bottled water while in Stillwater.

Friend, there's only so much water out there, and unless you're collecting it straight from some sort of purification system (natural or man-made), you should probably consider it tainted in some fashion. I would not characterize Kaw Lake's water (or that of any reservoir) as toilet water, but surely you realize that even fish defecate. They've been doing it for some time, now.

Lots of people I've worked with agree with the idea that energy supplies are far less important and valuable than water supplies. I wonder if the future solution to water problems won't be desalinization and transportation of (the rising level of) sea water.

[ou48A]

Friend, there's only so much water out there, and unless you're collecting it straight from some sort of purification system (natural or man-made), you should probably consider it tainted in some fashion. I would not characterize Kaw Lake's water (or that of any reservoir) as toilet water, but surely you realize that even fish defecate. They've been doing it for some time, now.

Lots of people I've worked with agree with the idea that energy supplies are far less important and valuable than water supplies. I wonder if the future solution to water problems won't be desalinization and transportation of (the rising level of) sea water.

LOL, yes I know…. It was more about the Stoolwater to Stillwater comparisons.

As you probably know there are desalinization plants around the world. As far as I know they all require huge amounts of energy making them pretty impractical for most.
There are 2 sources that I know of where fresh water in or near our state could be cleaned up by having the salt content reduced. One involves building a by-pass starting near the Kansas boarder and around the great Salt Plains Lake in NW Oklahoma. There are 2 places that could be plugged or diverted that would reduce the salt content of the Red River.

[TAlan CB]

The Red River is considered a major river by Geographers (only 100mile shorter than the Arkansas), but the water is too salty until it enters the far southeast of Oklahoma. There has been a "final" settlement on the border between OK&TX, and so the rivers' meandering is now "in and out" of both states. But, this aside, the Red is predominately in Oklahoma, historically the border was the southern bank. Recently, Dallas and N.Tx have been trying to purchase water from SE OK - Hugo Lake, etc. Thunderbird (Norman) needs to build a pipeline from there. Draper gets its water from Atoka Res. These rivers in SE OK enter the Red making it fresher water. Texoma is considered non-potable for dinking purpose.

Don't let the large Arkansas River entering the next state fool you, in recent years it has been entering Oklahoma from Kansas nearly dry. The Canadian(s), Neosho and Illinois River rivers turn the Arkansas into a major river in the east.
The same happens to the Red, with the Kiamichi River, Blue, and Muddy Boggy turning the Red into a major river before it leaves the state. These tributary rivers in SE Ok are untouched by large cities and this is what Dallas is after.