EDITORIAL: Statesmen are needed to move water issue along

Mar 10, 2010 — The Daily Oklahoman

Mar. 10, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- IT was more than 50 years ago that U.S. Sen. Robert Kerr, in talking about the need to construct lakes in southeastern Oklahoma, said this about our state's water supply:

"Communities both here and within central Oklahoma, and yes, there in north Texas, will be knocking at the doors of the Army Engineers and of those able to supply that water, standing in line with the money in their hands, or the contract of purchase in their hands, saying 'We are ready to help provide economic justification and economic compensation for these reservoirs.'"

How right Kerr was. North Texas has indeed come knocking, checkbook and economic justification in hand, hoping to get Oklahoma to sell some of the millions of gallons of water that now goes wasted every year because it spills into the salty Red River. Oklahoma has responded by looking inward, passing legislation last year that makes the sale of any Oklahoma water to out-of-state entities a near impossibility, because the Legislature would have to sign off on any such deal. Fat chance of that ever happening.

Instead the state is in a court fight with the Tarrant Regional Water District, which wants to install a spigot in southern Oklahoma and steer water to burgeoning north Texas. Tarrant would take surface water just before it spills into the Red -- it's asking for leftovers, if you will. Upstream locations in our state would still get all the water they have always gotten.

The Oklahoma Water Resources Board has said about 8 million acre feet of water flows out of Oklahoma into the Red River every year. (An acre foot is roughly 325,000 gallons, enough water to meet a household's needs for a year). Tarrant wants 460,000 acre feet per year, or about 1/17th of what now goes wasted. No price has been agreed to because this proposal has gone nowhere, but Tarrant has said its annual check to the state could range from $15 million to $65 million. That's serious money, which could in turn be used to replace or build new infrastructure to move water to other parts of Oklahoma.

The many constituencies involved help to make this a thorny issue. There are tribal interests, as well as local and regional concerns. Yet we can't help but think that if there were a few more statesmen in leadership positions, something could get done. Bob Kerr was a statesman. He looked outward, not inward, and helped make Oklahoma a better and more prosperous state.

There's also this question: Might this deal already have been struck if it were a state other than Texas that was knocking?

The Tarrant Regional Water District wants 460,000 acre feet per year, or about 1/17th of what now goes wasted. No price has been agreed to because this proposal has gone nowhere, but Tarrant has said its annual check to the state could range from $15 million to $65 million. That's serious money.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0148-42738178