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Summer 2007
A Publication of the Oklahoma Water Resources Research
Institute
Volume III | Issue I
Local Input Meetings:April - July
What’s Inside
From the Director-
Oklahoma Comprehensive
Water Plan: Public Participation
Process
At the time of this writing, I am happy to report that we are
almost halfway through the Local Input Meetings (LIMs): 20 down and
22 to go. We have covered the western part of the State and now are
mov-ing northeast. We began these meetings on April 12 and plan to
finish in early November in Idabel.
The meetings have gone quite well. We have received 1050
com-ments from the 1115 people who have attended these meetings. We
are thus averaging more than 52 attendees at each meeting. I want
to thank those who attended for their willingness to dedicate time
out of their cherished evenings to learn more about water resource
manage-ment in Oklahoma and to offer their perspectives and
concerns on the water plan.
We want to thank the staff of the Oklahoma Water Resources Board
for their assistance in planning these meetings and for their
presenta-tions in it. These well-designed and informative
presentations pro-vided valuable information to meeting
participants and set the stage for the discussions that followed.
We also want to thank our partners – the Oklahoma Cooperative
Extension Service and the Oklahoma Association of Regional Councils
of Government – for helping us arrange and conduct these meetings.
Finally, we want to thank those organizations that helped spread
the word about the meetings and encouraged attendance at them. In
particular, we thank the Oklahoma Municipal League, Oklahoma
Association of Conservation Districts, State Chamber of Commerce,
Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Oklahoma Rural Water Association, and all the
many other organizations for their help. A number of newspapers
have carried notices and stories of the LIMs. Not to be outdone,
OETA television even came to our Kingfisher meeting and interviewed
some of the participants.
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Beaver
Alva
Goodwell
Sayre
Local Input Meetings Underway. . .
Duncan
On April 12th, we began our journey of gathering input from the
citizens of Oklahoma. We kicked off these meetings in the panhandle
at the Beaver County Fairgrounds Pavilion. One hundred and three
interested citizens came from all over the state to discuss
Oklahoma’s water issues. (This meeting held the record for the
highest attendance until our meeting in Sulphur where we had 106 in
attendance.) We have been very pleased with the participation from
the citizens of Oklahoma with the 20 meetings we have held so far.
We have received several comments, spanning a variety of topics and
issues. On the next page is a sample of some of those comments.
Below is the schedule for the remainder of the Local Input
Meetings. You can also visit our website http://okwaterplan.info
for a map of the meetings we have held and will be holding across
the State. We hope to see you at a meeting in your area!
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Weatherford
Lawton
Hobart
El Reno
Duncan
Chickasha
Enid
Kingfisher
Oklahoma City
Sulphur
Norman
Stillwater
Ardmore
“The resources we do have need to be redistributed to achieve
the most good. We should not ask what it will cost, but rather what
it will accomplish.”
“The plan should consider looking at best management practices
for water resources and conservation practices. The plan should
recommend they be put in place.”
“I am concerned about water
quality,
water quantity, and the interac
tion between
surface and groundwater. In p
articular,
conservation practices along s
treams such
as riparian areas in Deer Creek
and the
destruction of riparian areas b
y flooding.”
“We need to look at the amount of water in our aquifers, to
ensure there is water available to permit for withdrawal. If there
is an area without an aquifer there should be restrictions on
groundwater pumping. We can’t permit what we no longer have.”
“The plan needs to address the needs and rights of the
groundwater owner in relation to the conjunctive use of groundwater
in meeting stream water needs.”
“I am concerned about
the lack of funding for
infrastructure improvements.
What funding sources are
available for infrastructure
improvement?” “We need to reevaluate the “use it or lose it”
water right regulation.”“I suggest that when the lakes are down
that sediment be removed so the lakes can hold more water.”
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Public Participation ProcessOklahoma law requires that the
Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) develop a Comprehensive
Water Plan and revise it about every ten years. The original plan
was pub-lished in 1980 and updated in 1995. OWRB is now working on
the second update, which is due in 2011.
The Oklahoma Water Resources Research Institute, established in
1965 at Oklahoma State University but serv-ing the entire state, is
leading an effort to gather input from citizens across the state to
help guide this update of the water plan.
The Institute’s primary mission is to sponsor water research
that meets the needs of Oklahoma and to train future water resource
management professionals. Dr. Will Focht, the In-stitute Director,
specializes in engaging citizens in environ-mental decision-making.
As a result, the OWRB has asked the Institute to lead the public
participation effort.
Process GoalsThe goals of the public par-
ticipation process are to pro-duce a water resource man-agement
plan that is (1) based on the best available science and (2) enjoys
broad public support.
To assure that the plan is well in-formed, the Institute is
assembling a team of technical and policy experts from across
Oklahoma to provide ad-vice as needed. In order for the pub-lic to
feel comfortable supporting the plan, the process has been designed
to be as inclusive, fair, and transparent as possible.
The plan will serve as a guide for decision-making by OWRB and
other state agencies as they work to assure a safe and reliable
supply of water to meet the needs of all Oklahomans for the next 50
years.
The Water Research Institute is not responsible for writing the
Water Plan. However, the Institute is com-mitted to making sure all
interests are
fairly represented and will encourage discussions that result in
recommen-dations representing the interests of all Oklahomans.
Process DescriptionThe public engagement process
will be conducted in five steps over the next four years.
Local Input MeetingsDuring 2007, the Institute spon-
sored 42 local input meetings across the state, which gave
Oklahomans the opportunity to (1) identify the issues that should
be considered, (2) voice concerns about these issues, (3) specify
the questions that should be answered in considering these issues,
and (4) of-fer suggestions about how the issues
should be addressed in the plan. Over 2,200 people attended
the
meetings, which began on April 12, in Beaver and ended on Nov.
15, in Ida-bel. The Institute received over 2,500 comments both
from those attending and through their website. Reports were
compiled after each local meet-ing and are available on the
Institute’s website. All of the comments are also available on the
website in a search-able database.
Regional Input MeetingsIn 2008, the Institute will hold 11
regional input meetings, one in each of the 11 sub-state
planning regions of Oklahoma, to group the issues raised in local
input meetings into similar
categories and to rate the categories as to their relative
importance.
The Institute will invite about 30 citizens from each region to
partici-pate. Nominations for the regional meetings were received
from the pub-lic, beginning at the first meeting and ending on Feb.
29, 2008. The Institute, working with several state, federal and
non-profit organizations, will narrow the list of nominees; the
final selection will be made by a Water Plan Adviso-ry Board,
comprised of six governor-appointed officials.
Approximately 330 participants will be selected based on their
knowledge of regional water issues, willingness to listen and
reflect on others’ interests, and a commitment to developing
rec-ommendations that meet the needs of
all Oklahomans. An effort will be made to ensure that all water
interests are rep-resented.
The meetings will be open to area residents and public comments
will be encouraged towards the end of the meeting. The results of
the local and re-gional input meetings will form the agenda for all
meetings to follow.
Planning WorkshopsThe Institute will sponsor a series
of workshops, in 2009, to formulate alternative water resource
manage-ment strategies. These workshops will be organized around
the issues and is-sue categories that were identified in the input
meetings.
We anticipate that 12 such issue-specific workshops will be held
in Oklahoma City. Each of the 12 work-shops will be repeated twice
(three in all) so that experts can respond to questions raised by
the participants.
Approximately 20 Oklahomans will be invited to participate in
each of the workshops (about 240 in all). Se-lections will be based
on the same cri-teria as for the regional input sessions except
that we will especially seek
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individuals who are knowledgeable of water issues across the
state.
Town Hall MeetingDuring 2010, the Institute will work
with the Oklahoma Academy for State Goals to host a 3-day town
hall meet-ing, in Norman.
Approximately 150 Oklahomans will be invited to consider the
alterna-tive water resource management strate-gies that were
formulated in the plan-ning workshops and reach agreement on a
series of recommendations for inclusion in the comprehensive water
plan.
Town hall meetings have been held by the Oklahoma Academy for a
number of years and have been very successful in generating policy
recommendations that have been subsequently embraced by the
Oklahoma Legislature, Gover-nor, and Agency Directors.
The Institute will issue invitations to nominees who are
knowledgeable about Oklahoma water issues and are committed to
generating recommenda-tions that can gain broad public
sup-port.
The recommendations will be deliv-ered to the OWRB for its use
in prepar-ing a draft of the water plan.
Feedback andImplementation Meetings
During 2011, the Institute will return to the 11 sub-state
planning regions to allow the public to review and discuss the
draft water plan. Those who attend these meetings will be
encouraged to offer suggestions about how the plan should be
carried out.
All comments and implementation suggestions will be communicated
to the OWRB for its use in developing the final water plan that
will be deliv-ered to the Governor and Legislature in 2011.
All reports generated during the process are posted on the
website for all to view. While the comment period has ended for the
purpose of the local meeting reports we continue to encour-age
comments and suggestions on the Institute’s website
http://okwaterplan.info.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments
throughout the process.
It is interesting, and perhaps somewhat ironic, that the
three-year drought that preceded the LIMs ended right at the time
that the meet-ings began. It has rained, usually quite heavily, on
the day of, day before, or day after 18 of our first 20 meetings.
It seems as if we bring the rain with us wherever we go. Perhaps we
should continue our planning meetings forever to ensure that we
will never again face a drought!
To view the comments submitted so far, please go to
http://okwaterplan.info. There you can search for comments using
keywords and view reports of each LIM’s proceedings. You will also
find a schedule for upcoming meetings, which we hope you will plan
to attend. The website also includes other background information
that you will find useful.
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For the first time, we are joining our annual Water Research
Symposium with the Oklahoma Water Resources Board’s
annual Governor’s Water Conference.
Some of the topics to be covered will be:The Arbuckle-Simpson
Hydrology Study•The Grand Lake Watershed•Water
Sustainability•Science and Policy•
Reserve October 23-25 Now!!!
Mark Your Calendars!
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The AQUAhomanOklahoma Water Resources Research InstituteOklahoma
State University003 Life Sciences EastStillwater, OK 74078-3011
The AQUAhoman is published quarterly by the Oklahoma Water
Resources Research Institute at Oklahoma State University. It is
available at: http://environ.okstate.edu/owrri/aquahoman
OWRRIDr. Will Focht, Director | Mike Langston, Assistant
Director | Jeri Fleming, Communications Manager
Alison Stone, Outreach Specialist and AQUAhoman Editor | Jenny
Jafek-Jones, Administrative Support Specialist003 Life Sciences
East | Stillwater, OK 74078-3011 | 405.744.9994 | 405.744.7074
(fax)
[email protected]/owrri
*Cover Photo, Mountain Fork River
Other photos are of the Local Input Meetings held across the
State
taken by Alison Stone