State Rep. Carl Newton held a legislative hearing Tuesday examining Oklahoma's groundwater challenges, including depleting aquifers and management practices as the state grapples with severe drought conditions.
The hearing before the House Agriculture Committee focused on Western Oklahoma's water crisis. Western Oklahoma and the Panhandle experience the worst drought classifications up to 30% of the time, according to testimony, and groundwater wells in these areas show the heaviest concentration of permits.
A major barrier to managing the problem is incomplete data. Groundwater wells were not required to be reported to the Oklahoma Water Resources Board until 1982, and the agency has only achieved about 50% compliance with reporting requirements. Most permit holders estimate how much water they use each year, and landowners operate on an honor system even though each is supposed to receive an equal share of available water, the board said.
Infrastructure needs are substantial. Funding for statewide drinking water infrastructure through 2045 will total $117.6 billion, according to testimony from experts at the Oka' Water Institute at East Central University. Experts urged state regions to begin planning to fund these needs to prevent further depletion.
One solution discussed was water transfer from other parts of the state, though experts cautioned it would face significant opposition. A member of the Grand River Dam Authority's board noted that water currently flows from Grand Lake through hydroelectric generation into rivers and eventually to the Gulf of Mexico without being used, and could potentially be captured and moved west where it is needed.