Lake Hefner at record low water levels, when will city buy Canton water?

[Edgar]

Excellent news for our fellow Okies concened about the protection of their natural resources. No more stongarm plays by OKC and their co-conspirators at OWRB like what they tried with Sardis.Capitol Report, Wayne Greene: Rural areas 1, cities 0 in water wars | Tulsa World

[bluedogok]

Just got back to Colorado from West Texas, drove through the panhandle four times in the last two weeks and will again next weekend. The sections visible from US-287 are just in Oklahoma but it bends away from the tracks and road a few miles north of Boise City so I am not sure where it is headed after that point. I do know there has been a "greening" of the vegetation on the Colorado Eastern Plains from the first trip down on June 10 and the subsequent trips on the 13th, 16th and yesterday. Still awfully dry as you get right near the Colorado-Oklahoma border and points south.

What size & type of pipe are we talking here?

From driving by at 65 mph it looks to be about 18" green PVC pipe.

[OSUFan]

It's a case of our checking account being in great condition but our savings account a little too low for comfort.

By strong arming you mean exercising our legal rights to the water we own?

Just curious what mandatory watering restrictions are in place in Canton right now?

[BoulderSooner]

Excellent news for our fellow Okies concened about the protection of their natural resources. No more stongarm plays by OKC and their co-conspirators at OWRB like what they tried with Sardis.Capitol Report, Wayne Greene: Rural areas 1, cities 0 in water wars | Tulsa World

did this bill get signed by the gov?

[HangryHippo]

did this bill get signed by the gov?

I believe it was signed into law on May 31, 2013.

Another brilliant move by Fallin to not veto this.

[mkjeeves]

Interesting note from the article:

Panhandle residents use a lot more water on a per capita basis, so they need a louder voice in setting water policy.

I wonder when they start conserving?

[kevinpate]

Interesting note from the article:

Panhandle residents use a lot more water on a per capita basis, so they need a louder voice in setting water policy.

I wonder when they start conserving?

Maybe when folks stop desiring their crops, cattle and hogs?

[Snowman]

Excellent news for our fellow Okies concened about the protection of their natural resources. No more stongarm plays by OKC and their co-conspirators at OWRB like what they tried with Sardis.Capitol Report, Wayne Greene: Rural areas 1, cities 0 in water wars | Tulsa World

If you look a little closer at the gerrymandering, while Oklahoma county and Tulsa county only get a representative each, the suburbs of OKC and Tulsa will be the majority in four of the other districts.

[Bellaboo]

Excellent news for our fellow Okies concened about the protection of their natural resources. No more stongarm plays by OKC and their co-conspirators at OWRB like what they tried with Sardis.Capitol Report, Wayne Greene: Rural areas 1, cities 0 in water wars | Tulsa World

The only strong arm play here was from the rural legislators.....Hope it's not a real water war where OKC would drain Sardis in retaliation. j/k

[adaniel]

Excellent news for our fellow Okies concened about the protection of their natural resources. No more stongarm plays by OKC and their co-conspirators at OWRB like what they tried with Sardis.Capitol Report, Wayne Greene: Rural areas 1, cities 0 in water wars | Tulsa World

Don't get your hopes up too much. This is a gross violation of "one person-one vote" and could probably be overturned by a smart lawyer on constitutional grounds.

[Edgar]

The only strong arm play here was from the rural legislators.....Hope it's not a real water war where OKC would drain Sardis in retaliation. j/k

OKC draining Sardis is what the folks in SE Ok are rightfully worried about. It's their heritage and not meant to fuel hideous sprawl in Tarrent Co or OKC.

[BoulderSooner]

OKC draining Sardis is what the folks in SE Ok are rightfully worried about. It's their heritage and not meant to fuel hideous sprawl in Tarrent Co or OKC.

it is not their heritage ... and it was very much built to provide water to the people and business of oklahoma ...

[catch22]

By strong arming you mean exercising our legal rights to the water we own?

Just curious what mandatory watering restrictions are in place in Canton right now?

I think you quoted the wrong person.

I am saying, lets conserve our water in Hefner because we have very little left of our water in Canton.

[kevinpate]

.. It's their heritage and not meant to fuel hideous sprawl [elsewhere].

With due respect, and this is coming from someone who lived in SE OK most of my years from shortly after birth into my mid twenties, where oh where did you ever get such a notion?

Sardis was a man made lake constructed in the late 70's and very early 80's by the Army Corps of Engineers. The reason it was constructed was to capture water in the Jackfork for sale. That dinna go so well, lack of buyers at the time and the state got sued, and lost, for not making the required payments. Its got its recreational uses, but it's no more someone's heritage than than any other Corps of Engineers constructed reservoir of that era.

[Edgar]

The Kiamichi Watershed is most definately the heritage of SE Ok. it'd be a tragedy if OKC and/or Tarrent Co are alolowed to stick a straw into it.

[OSUFan]

I think you quoted the wrong person.

I am saying, lets conserve our water in Hefner because we have very little left of our water in Canton.

Yeah, I quoted the wrong person. Sorry, I agree with you. We all need to do what we can to conserve our water. I just don't like the lectures from other parts of the state telling us what we need to to do with our water when they aren't living by the same standards.

[Bellaboo]

The Kiamichi Watershed is most definately the heritage of SE Ok. it'd be a tragedy if OKC and/or Tarrent Co are alolowed to stick a straw into it.

Right, go ahead and let that water drain into the Red, and be wasted due to the inequalties of the Red. Edgar, what good is it to go to waste ? OKC paid the bill to the Army Corp for the dam and water impoundment, thus buying the rights to the water ( I know not everyone is agreement who owns at this point).

[BoulderSooner]

The Kiamichi Watershed is most definately the heritage of SE Ok. it'd be a tragedy if OKC and/or Tarrent Co are alolowed to stick a straw into it.

sardis and the kiamichi watershed .. are not the same thing ..

[Dubya61]

The Kiamichi Watershed is most definately the heritage of SE Ok. it'd be a tragedy if OKC and/or Tarrent Co are alolowed to stick a straw into it.

But Sardis is not a heritage of any people, unless the people you are talking about are a family whose paternal and maternal lineage met while working for the Corps of Engineers building that lake. To truly honor the heritage of SE Oklahoma, OKC should drain that lake and return it to the river it once was.

[kevinpate]

The Kiamichi Watershed is most definately the heritage of SE Ok. it'd be a tragedy if OKC and/or Tarrent Co are alolowed to stick a straw into it.

Well, Tarrant is no longer an issue, as to Sardis itself anyway, but yeah, as Sardis was built for water sales, water sales are going to take place. OKC does have a mighty big straw planned.

Now, prior to Sardis, the heritage of the area was this: the waters of the Jackfork water simply ran on through the area to points beyond the area.

You are entitled to your opinion, but I have to part company with you as to Sardis being some long held heritage.
Sardis functions today as it was designed to function over 30 years ago. Dam the Jackfork, capture water to be sold as Sardis Reservoir, and provide a right fair amount of ancillary recreational use, as well as tourism dollars, for the enjoyment of those in and those visiting the area. That's the actual heritage of Sardis.

Not at all sure why being able to capture the water for beneficial use and creating a recreational use area for over thirty years instead of the water flowing unimpeded out of state could possibly be considered a tragedy for southeast OK.

[Edgar]

see Canton and Atoka for refernce.

[BoulderSooner]

see Canton and Atoka for refernce.

evidence of what ... that OKC owns the water rights .. and will use them ... no one disagrees with that

[Bellaboo]

Edgar, stop sleeping in geography class.....LOL

[kevinpate]

Ah, ok, and here I thought you were being serious. My bad. So, I took a gander at canton and atoka or another another look at sardis as well. then I pondered, hey self, I asked myself. what if water storage reservoirs had never been built? Why self, that's easy. Water that isn't captured go on about its merry way and when not captured it ends up being used by someone else, evaporating or perhaps making its way to the ocean even, but what it doesn't do is stick around for anyone to bless it with heritage status.

Ok self, I say to myself, but if the water doesn't hang around, what about the swimming and fishing and hunting and camping opportunities? What then, cause all those things are fun and folks even drive in a right far piece to play at such things. Well, self, myself says back to me, one can wade in the crik if it flows slow enough to not be unsafe, but fast enough to not be stagnant algae farms, and one can fish, a bit anyway, provided the fish hang around, and one can camp without a lake, but yeah, it's not quite as much fun, so in general, an area sure could miss out on a lot if the heritage of the water is to just pass on through the valley.

all ritie then self, I says to myself. We'll talk more later. But right now I need to go capture a diet Dr. Pepper into a glass of ice. That's way more enjoyable than letting it tip over and drain down the sink.

[Edgar]

Close your eyes and perhaps you can taste the pugent stench of dead Canton.