All of Oklahoma stands to gain from water sale
OUR VIEWS: BIG PICTURE IMPORTANT

The Oklahoman Editorial

Published: May 18, 2009

AN important job for any legislator is to represent the people who voted you into office, which helps explain why two Oklahoma senators are vocal in their opposition to the prospect of selling excess water to out-of-state interests. Jerry Ellis, D-Valliant, and Jim Wilson, D-Tahlequah, clearly aren’t keen on the idea.

Ellis is from southeasternOklahoma, near where the Tarrant Regional Water District would like to set up a pump station that would direct water to its customers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Tarrant is willing to buy the water but won’t have to if it wins its federal lawsuit challengingOklahoma’s moratorium that bans the sale of water.

The issue is an emotional one for the folks in Ellis’ district. He played to that during his campaign last year, saying that stopping the sale of water to Texas was "not an option, it’s a mandate.” Water is a big deal forWilson, too. Float trips on the Illinois River provide big business for Tahlequah, and Lake Tenkiller is just a short drive away.

So when they say, as they did last week, that the state needs to "create hurdles” that would make it difficult to buyOklahomawater, they’re saying what many constituents want to hear.

But what about the state as a whole? Members of the Legislature, no matter where they’re from, should have the state’s best interest at heart. That is vital ifOklahomais to grow during the next many years.

Selling water toTexascan help the cause.

Tarrant wants access to 460,000 acre feet of water per year. An acre foot is roughly 325,000 gallons, or about the amount it takes to provide a household’s needs for one year. That’s a lot of water — except when you consider that each year, about 8 million acre feet of water flows, unused, out of Oklahoma into the Red River, where it becomes unusable due to high salt content. Statewide,Oklahomaloses about 34 million acre feet of water per year.

Tarrant is seeking water that’s downstream from anyOklahomareservoirs, such as Hugo Lake. Water district officials have said the check they’d write toOklahomacould be $15 million to $65 million annually. They need the water in order to continue growing; an expanding and vibrant northTexasis important to commerce in our state, particularly southernOklahoma.

Oklahoma has twice failed to get the Tarrant lawsuit dismissed and could very well lose at trial in December. If that happens, then Tarrant eventually would be able to apply for a permit and take the water it needs without opening its checkbook.

There will be no swaying some members on this issue, but the Legislature ought to do all it can this session to make sellingOklahomawater a possibility.