OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – The Oklahoma Water Resources Board voted June 11 to transfer the state's water storage contract for southeastern Oklahoma's Sardis Lake to Oklahoma City over the objections of American Indian tribal leaders, state lawmakers and residents who said the action is premature and won't benefit the region.
The board voted 5-2 to transfer a water storage contract for most of the lake's capacity to the Oklahoma City Water Utilities Trust, which approved the deal June 7. In exchange, the city will pay the $22 million balance owed the federal government for the lake's construction in the 1970s and 1980s and will make a $5.2 million payment due by July 1.
“We're picking up all the debt on this,” City Manager Jim Couch said. Couch estimated the plan will save the state $270 million in long-term costs including lake operation, maintenance and management.
Board officials said the plan dealt only with water storage and not how the water will be used. But opponents said it is a prelude to the eventual sale of the region's water, possibly to cities in North Texas, and that any decision should wait until a statewide, comprehensive water study is completed next year.
“I thought that the board was to protect the water of the state of Oklahoma, not to sell it,” said Sen. Jerry Ellis, D-Valliant, whose district includes Sardis Lake. Ellis has opposed legal efforts by the Tarrant County Water District in Texas, which serves Fort Worth, to gain access to water in southeastern Oklahoma.
Choctaw Nation Chief Greg Pyle, whose tribe is based in Durant, repeated an offer by his tribe and the Chickasaw Nation to pay the upcoming debt payment to give lawmakers more time to resolve disputes over use of the lake's water.
“This isn't the only option you have,” said Sen. Jay Paul Gumm, D-Durant. “We all believe this is a crisis that has been created.”
Lawmakers from the region said Sardis Lake and other reservoirs in southeastern Oklahoma are a critical resource in a region with high unemployment and low per capita income, and that turning over control to outside entities won't benefit local residents.
“I think it's underhanded,” said Sen. Jim Wilson, D-Tahlequah. “I don't think it has to be that way.”
Before the vote, several board members expressed frustration that lawmakers had not resolved the issue themselves. Afterward, Pyle and former Attorney General Larry Derryberry, who represents Oklahomans for Responsible Water Policy, said they may go to court to stop the transfer.
“We feel that this was orchestrated,” Pyle said. He said board members made the decision without the information and guidance that the statewide water plan would provide.
“That indicates there was pressure,” he said. “The last thing you want to do is litigate, but that's highly possible.”
Couch said the city has no immediate plans for the water but eventually wants to pipe it about 150 miles to Oklahoma City and other central Oklahoma communities.
Mayor Mick Cornett, attending the annual U.S. Conference of Mayors in Oklahoma City, said it is in the state's best interest to protect Oklahoma City's ability to grow.
“This is not water that's going to be tapped for many, many years,” Cornett said, “but it's in the best interest of Oklahoma City and economic development in general that we go forward with it.”