Absentee Shawnee Economic Development Authority needs community input on water district development


LITTLE AXE, Okla. – Verna Hicks moved from Tulsa to rural Rose, Okla. in 1968. She and her husband had decided to buy a ranch with a dairy.

Part of running a dairy was having a clean water supply. Since they were on well water, it meant treating the well. Often.

“When we had a lot of rain, it would affect the water. There would be a lot of bacteria in it.”

She said the only way they had of sanitizing it was by pouring a jug of chlorine into it.

“We used the water to clean the milk tanks out. The water had to be free of bacteria,” she said.

And sometimes, the well would get low. She and her husband hauled water from the pond to water the garden so they’d have water from the well for the dairy and the home. They would wait for the rain and for the well to fill. That also meant it would be time for another jug of chlorine.

When the opportunity came to sign up for rural water, she thought it was a good idea.

“We figured the rural water would be safer, more sanitary. Plus, with the well, if a storm knocked the power out, we didn’t have water. With rural water, we’d still have running water.”

Like the community of Rose once was, Little Axe is largely dependent on well water, and well water often comes with problems.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, well water is subject to many common ground-water quality concerns, including excessive hardness due to dissolved magnesium and calcium, “a high concentration of salt or iron, or the presence of sulfur, methane gas, petroleum or organic compounds, or bacteria. Some are naturally occurring; others are introduced by human activities.”

The USGS names barnyard runoff, bacteria, pesticides, and fertilizers as some of the more serious common water quality problems in rural areas. The Environmental Protection Agency warns that this can become a serious problem because these “small drinking water systems are not covered by the Safe Water Drinking Act; these wells and systems are often untested and contaminated.”

While the EPA regulates public water systems, it doesn’t have the authority to regulate private drinking water wells.

A rural water system for the community would alleviate those concerns by providing a treatment plant to remove solids, reduce organic matter and pollutants and ensure that wastewater returned to the environment is clean. Water would be treated and monitored daily for cleanliness and consumers assured of a safe potable supply of running water.

The Absentee Shawnee Economic Development Authority is currently in the feasibility stage of gauging the interest of the community in developing a rural water system. With community support, the tribe can secure Tribal Economic Development Bonds and grants to fund the project, bring clean water to the Little Axe community, and ultimately, also create new jobs by staffing the wastewater treatment plant.

Board member Adam Proctor says community support is essential. The tribe has to have a positive survey and feasibility study before applying for TED Bonds.

“Whether you want to be a member of the water district or not, if you support your neighbors who do, we need you to respond by filling out and returning a survey,” Proctor said. “You may not need rural water, but someone close to you might. And you don’t have to sign up for it. We just need to know you support the project for the community as a whole.”

And whether you sign up for rural water or not, everyone stands to benefit from fire hydrants that will be installed along the lines. Having a hydrant close will reduce your homeowner’s insurance and ensure fire trucks have a ready supply of water at their disposal should you or one of your neighbors need them.

The ASEDA board also assures the community that the community itself will be in charge of the district once it is established.  When you become a member of the rural water system, you become a member of the water district’s corporation and have one voting right to elect members to serve on the district’s board of directors.

Becoming a member will entail a one-time membership fee. Afterwards, ASEDA projects that average monthly rural water bills to be less than $40.

If you have questions about the survey, would like a copy of the survey, or want more information about the development of the water district, call the ASEDA office at 1-405-275-4030, Ext. 148, or visit the Absentee Shawnee Tribe website at: www.astribe.com.