Agricultural News
Water Plan Seeks Balanced Approach to Meeting Needs for Next 50 Years
Fri, 02 Nov 2012 14:47:34 CDT
There's no bigger issue in Oklahoma than water. With the drought of 2011 and 2012 now beginning to stretch into a third year, the question of adequate water supplies is again front and center.
J.D. Strong, executive director of the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, recently spoke to the Oklahoma Agribusiness Retailers Association about the recently completed Oklahoma Water Plan. He spoke with Radio Oklahoma Network Farm Director Ron Hays about progress on the five-year-long plan developed at a cost of over $11 million dollars.
He said that water is so important to every individual and industry that getting all parties to the table to rationally discuss the issue is not always easy.
"No question that water forms some very strong allies, but it also forms strong enemies. And folks tend to coalesce around their common water uses, but we have a variety of water users across the state-whether it's energy, oil and gas, whether it's agriculture, municipal drinking water. Tourism and recreation is another big water user in the state that is often overlooked. It's a struggle to get folks around the table to talk about how we can ensure that we meet all of those water needs with the finite amount of water that we have in the state. And it will obviously become more difficult as the state continues to grow."
He says the complexity is magnified enormously as the drought continues to hammer farmers and ranchers in the western half of the state.
"No doubt, it makes our lives very difficult just as it makes the lives of the farmers and ranchers across Oklahoma very difficult to do what they do-growing crops, growing beef and livestock and that sort of thing with dwindling water supplies.
"It's definitely stressful for those of us at the Water Resources Board to try and make sure we balance water needs and manage those water needs for the benefit of everyone."
The plan developed by the Water Resources Board projects the state's water needs and solutions for the next 60 years. Agriculture is, obviously, one of the largest users of water. Strong said feeding the world is a huge component of the plan.
"Agriculture definitely will be-should be-a strong voice and have multiple seats at the table as we continue to hammer through these issues and implement the water plan and make sure we take care of the long-term needs." He said it is also important to help agriculture develop ways to use water resources more efficiently and to develop alternate water sources as well.
Strong said one of the Water Resources Board's goals is that the state use no more water 50 or 60 years from now than it does today.
"One of the priority recommendations of the water plan was really to get folks focused more on using water more efficiently, and conserving water. In the ag sector we see some of the best examples of that going on already whether you talk about all the advances in efficiency of pivot systems up in the Panhandle to new drip systems going in, that sort of thing."
He said cities are also part of the plan and the Water Resources Board is looking at ways to help city dwellers be more efficient in their water usage.
He said the one issue that is still evolving that will have a major impact on water usage for the next several decades is the water rights issue between the state and Indian tribes.
"We are engaged in litigation with two tribes, the Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes, but there are 39 federally-recognized tribes in Oklahoma, all of which settled this state before statehood and had territories and reservations to claim. Several of them, in addition to the Chickasaws and Choctaws, claim that they have rights to water within the state. The longer we continue to ignore that the more we put at risk our ability to continue to manage the people's water with surety and guarantees. So that puts a cloud, if you will, over everybody's rights to use their water in Oklahoma. So, it's critically important that we get those issues resolved. And I think we'll be very successful in working with the tribes to get those issues resolved just as we've been successful in working with them on tourism and many other business pursuits."
Strong says the issue of moving water from eastern Oklahoma, which often has a surplus, to western Oklahoma, which often has a water deficit, has been discussed. He said the costs of moving water over those distances and mostly uphill are astronomical and the more feasible option is to help users more effectively utilize, re-use, and recycle supplies they have in place locally.
You can hear the full conversation between J.D. Strong and Ron Hays by clicking on the LISTEN BAR below.
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