A publication of Oklahomans for Responsible Water Policy Volume 6, Number 1 • Spring 2016 • Copyright © 2016 ORWP

Valuing Oklahoma’s Water by Dr. Steve Patterson

aluing Water: Economy, Ecology, and Culture is the theme for this year’s Vconference of the Oklahoma Clean Photo adapted by Chris Chandler, Esq. Lakes and Watersheds Association which will be held March 29 & 30, 2016 in Stillwater. From economists to fishermen, from water The Red River Compact & Oklahoma providers to Native American elders, a full day of speakers will address the multiple ““Oklahoma’s future is solely dependent upon our ability downstream neighbors. The values of water in life and in our economy. Compact directs each state to We will look at different methods for to manage our water resources. Tourism, recreation, culture, use compacted water only for placing a value on water and for in turn using history, and wildlife are sustainable sources of economic ac- beneficial uses, “Each Signatory that information to protect water and the State may use the water allocated landscapes dependent on it. tivity for Oklahoma, even during repeated cycles of extreme to it by this Compact in any Speakers will include university scientists drought. manner deemed beneficial by and scholars, leaders from local, state, and - Rick Branam, ORWP Vice-President & OK Retired District Judge that state.” federal water agencies, from the Choctaw However, Oklahoma does and Chickasaw Nations, and water planning Advocates for out-of-state have a right to all the water not recognize the out-of-state water sales are back at it! They that flows into the Red River. transport, export, and/or sale Turn to VALUES, page 3 are trying to sell the decades-old The state signed the Red River of water as a beneficial use. The idea by preying on fears over Compact, which fairly divides State of Oklahoma does not have RELATED STORIES Oklahoma’s growing budget the entire Red River basin among the right to horde all water that deficit. There are several legal, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and otherwise would flow to our Pipeline dreams are an expansion of government Page 2 scientific, and moral reasons why Louisiana. neighbors so that we can extort Studies: OU and OSU Water Science Projects Pages 3-5 out-of-state water sales are not Second, the Red River them for money. Red River Basin drawing more attention in drought Page 6 possible. Compact bluntly prevents First, Oklahoma does not the hoarding of water from Turn to COMPACT, page 7 2 « Oklahoma Water Issues « Spring 2016

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Oklahoma Blue Thumb www.ok.gov/conservation/Agency_Divisions/Water_Quality_Division/ WQ_Blue_Thumb/index.html

An often overlooked part of con- Oklahoma’s $7.1 billion recreation and Students, Girl and Boy Scout troops, serving our water resources is simply tourism industry. Oklahoma Blue Thumb families and individual citizens are keeping our water healthy. Clean, is a water pollution and water quality Oklahoma Blue Thumb volunteers who healthy lakes, rivers and streams are education program that operates under monitor 100 streams across Oklahoma, waters available not only for domestic the Oklahoma Conservation Commission screen groundwater and educate the and commercial use, but also crucial to Water Quality Division. public about pollution prevention. Spring 2016 » Oklahoma Water Issues » 3 Values Conducting Ethnographic Research in the Kiamichi Watershed continued from page 1 by Dr. Mike Stanton - University of Oklahoma practitioners. OCLWA has been bringing While living and working in the resilience to the region. economic backgrounds who have people together annually to Kiamichi Region I have spent most An overwhelming majority of very generously offered useful in- learn and share information of my time interacting with local the people I have spoken with are sights into changing land-use and about water and water quality people during several events, dis- concerned about the future of water resource patterns throughout the for 25 years. cussions, and interviews. use and allocation in the region and region. In addition to the slate of In-depth interviews focus on key having enough water in the lakes speakers on the conference stakeholders and industries to better and streams to continue living and theme, expect a wide range comprehend the context in which working in the Kiamichi Region. of topics to be explored in regional socio-economic and eco- Discussions and observations of other talks over the two-day logical conditions are un- the past growing conference. derstood and interpreted. season suggest You will hear reports These observations are “Water, it’s our that the notion on fish, mussels, and other critical to understanding lifeline and we of surplus water aquatic wildlife, the status of the values and activities of need to protect it.” in the region is individuals, resource man- not supported by water quality across the state, KIAMICHI BASIN RESIDENT learn about streambank and agers, community organi- the realities of a riparian restoration and its zations, and other decision landscape that benefits, about what volunteer makers. is highly susceptible to drought organizations are doing to The Kiamichi is an economically conditions. improve and monitor water poor area of the state and diversi- One person I interviewed quality in local communities— fication through multiple sources summed up the predominant view and much, much more! of income is key to long-term eco- of participants in the Kiamichi by If you would like to attend, nomic survival in the region. saying; “Water, it’s our lifeline and or for more information, visit A focus on agriculture as a pri- we need to protect it.” the OCLWA website at www. mary means of subsistence and an My ethnographic research in the oclwa.org. expanding tourism industry high- Kiamichi Watershed continues to light regional vulnerabilities and build on a body of data provided the importance of socio-ecological by participants from diverse socio-

Social demand for ecosystem services in the Kiamichi River Basin from Dr. Caryn Vaughn, Presidential Professor of Biology - University of Oklahoma There are well known competing de- shed residents, tourists and eventual of the American Water Resources Associa- mands for the high quality water that water users in Oklahoma City. tion. DOI: 10.1111/1752-1688.12379 flows through rivers in southeastern They found that all beneficiaries Dr. Caryn C. Vaughn Oklahoma. thought that habitat for species and wa- Dr. Caryn Vaughn and her colleagues ter regulation were important, but that at the University of Oklahoma recently there were differences in the perceived completed a sociocultural preference importance of specific ecosystem assessment for the ecosystem services services among different beneficiary provided by the Kiamichi River.. groups. Healthy freshwater ecosystems pro- This information can be used in wa- vide essential ecosystem services that ter allocation planning. This research benefit society including drinking water was recently published in the Jour- and irrigation, water quality and habi- nal of the American Water Resources tat for aquatic species, and recreation Association. and spiritual enrichment. Castro, A.J., C.C. Vaughn, J.P. Julian Vaughn’s group conducted over 500 and M. Garcia-Llorente. 2016. Social de- face-to-face interviews with “ecosys- mand for ecosystem services and implica- tem service beneficiaries”, i.e. water- tions for watershed management. Journal 4 « Oklahoma Water Issues « Spring 2016 Oklahoma Map of Open Surface Water Body in 2010 at 30-m Spatial Resolution from Landsat Images from Dr. Xiao Xiangming - University of Oklahoma Summary Reference Surface water body is important natural resource Data and Methods Xu, H., 2006, Modification of normalized differ- and provides ecosystem services to millions of peo- We use Landsat TM and ETM+ images at 30-m ence water index (NDWI) to enhanced open water ple in Oklahoma. spatial resolution in 2010. Several water-related features in remotely sensed imagery, International Geospatial datasets of surface water bodies in spectral indices are used to map surface water bod- Journal of Remote Sensing, 27(14): 3025-3033 Oklahoma are used to support water resource man- ies, including the mNDWI (Xu, 2006). agement, and climate modeling. Provisional Open Surface Water Body Data Prod- Contact Information The researchers at the Earth Observation and uct (Year 2010) Prof. Xiangming Xiao Modeling Facility, University of Oklahoma are car- There are 36,262 water bodies, and their sizes [email protected] rying out a pilot project to map open surface water range from 900 m2 (single pixel) to 336 km2. The Center for Spatial Analysis bodies in 2010, which aims to lay a sound founda- total area of water bodies is ~2,334 km2, accounting University of Oklahoma tion for mapping annual dynamics of open surface for 1.29 % of entire state (181,195 km2). http://www.eomf.ou.edu water bodies from 1985 to 2015 in the State.

Figure 1. Spatial distribution of open surface water bodies in Oklahoma in 2010 at 30-m spatial resolution

Published by Oklahomans for Responsible Water Policy Distributed FREE throughout the state of Oklahoma

Copyright ©2016 Oklahomans for Responsible Water Policy. All rights reserved. Spring 2016 » Oklahoma Water Issues » 5 Advancing the Science: USGS State Grant Recipients Selected for 2016 Funding by the Oklahoma Water Resources Center from Dr. Garey Fox - Oklahoma State University The Water Resources university researchers equipped and technology assistance. Research Act of 1964 to conduct beneficial research, During the past 50 years we authorized the establishment of and leveraging federal funds with have funded scores of research a water resources research and other resources to sponsor the projects that help us understand technology institute or center at investigators. Oklahoma’s water needs and a land-grant university in each The non-federal portion of the solve problems. This year was no state. required 2:1 non-federal:federal different. As a result of the Water funding match was provided After a competitive selection Resources Act, the Oklahoma by the Oklahoma Agricultural process, including external Water Resources Research Experiment Station. proposal reviews and input from Institute (OWRRI, currently Although headquartered our Water Research Advisory known as the Oklahoma Water at OSU, the Oklahoma Water Board, we announced projects to Resources Center) was founded Resources Center (http:// be funded in 2016. in 1965 at Oklahoma State water.okstate.edu) serves the Project titles and investigators University. entire state of Oklahoma. The of the selected projects are below. This Act (also known as the Center strives to help Oklahoma More information about each of USGS 104(b) grant program) achieve high levels of water these projects is at http://water. provides base support for quality and sustainable use okstate.edu/funded-projects. identifying water resources through integrated programs of research needs, selecting research, education, training,

Western Oklahoma Irrigation Water and Energy Audits: Findings, Recom- Above: Evaluating the Reuse of Swine Lagoon Effluent and Recycled Municipal Water for Agricultural Production (Hailin Zhang, mendations & Educational Materials (Scott Frazier, Saleh Taghvaeian, Doug Hamilton, Saleh Taghvaeian, Scott Carter) Jason Warren, Don Sternitzke, Cameron Murley)

Left: Algal Remediation of Waste Water Produced during Hydraulic Fracturing (Nurhan Dunford, PI) 6 « Oklahoma Water Issues « Spring 2016 Red River Basin Drawing More Attention In Drought by Mike Ray Concerns about and conflicts over The USGS will “update old studies” 4,400 tons per day. (Chlorides consti- stream from Denison Dam water in the Red River Basin have pertaining to surface water, groundwa- tute only about one-third of the total Landowners and other citizens been growing because of increases in ter, and rainfall runoff, said William J. dissolved solids in the river, the U.S. downstream from Lake Texoma, par- water use for power generation and Andrews, a hydrologist who is director Army Corps of Engineers reports.) ticularly in Arkansas and Louisiana, other purposes and a chronic drought of the USGS Water Science Center in Lake Texoma stakeholders “are would be adversely affected if sig- in Texas aggravated by the mounting Oklahoma City. concerned about removal of natural nificant volumes of freshwater were need for drinking water in the Dallas- “It’s part of our national water cen- chloride in the river and tributaries” diverted from the Red River, thereby Fort Worth metroplex. sus,” he said. The new study will “con- above the reservoir because reducing increasing its salinity, noted Richard The Tarrant Regional Water Dis- tribute additional knowledge to what the salt concentrations could have an Brontoli, executive director of the Red trict, which serves the Fort Worth, we know about the watershed from adverse effect on the multimillion-dol- River Valley Association. Texas, area, has tried to obtain water Texas to the Red River’s confluence lar annual striped-bass fishing industry Freshwater tributaries of the Red from Red River tributaries in Oklaho- with the Mississippi River.” of the lake, Andrews point- River include the Kiamichi River and ma, but Oklahoma denied the claim ed out. Boggy Creek in southeastern Oklaho- “Landowners and and the U.S. Supreme Court sided Upstream Diversions other citizens A Corps of Engineers ma, downstream from Denison Dam, unanimously with Oklahoma, 9-0, in Would Affect Salinity downstream study six years ago estimat- which impounds the Red to create 2013. The nation’s high court cited Levels from Lake ed that Lake Texoma at- Lake Texoma. provisions of the Red River Compact, Any significant upstream Texoma... would tracts seven million visitors Most of the rain that falls in the a congressionally sanctioned agree- diversions or withdrawals be adversely each year, including 62,000 drainage basin from below Lake Texo- ment adopted in 1978 that allocates of water that would affect affected if Oklahoma anglers and ma to Shreveport is considered “un- water rights within the Red River ba- salinity levels of the Red significant 39,000 Texas fishermen controlled” since much of that rainfall sin among the states of Oklahoma, River would be challenged volumes of and women. The lake also enters the Red River through streams, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. by commercial interests at freshwater were is credited with supporting creeks or bayous that do not pass A new USGS study evolved from a Lake Texoma. diverted from the more than 2,500 fishing-re- through a lake, Brontoli said. “This resolution adopted by the Oklahoma The Red and several Red River.” lated jobs in the two states. large, uncontrolled area contributes a Legislature a year and a half ago. In of its myriad tributar- RICHARD BRONTOLI The Corps contends that lot of fresh water” to the Red River. Executive Director Senate Concurrent Resolution 32 by ies ñ which include the Red RIver Valley Association lowering the chlorides in Consequently, the river is a direct former Sen. Jerry Ellis, D-Valliant, 295-mile-long Washita the Red River would have source of drinking water for Bossier and former Rep. Curtis McDaniel, D- River, which forms in the a “minimal impact” on the City, La. In addition, the Natural Re- Smithville, the Oklahoma Legislature Texas Panhandle and passes through adult population of striped bass in the sources Conservation Service of the appealed to Congress to instruct the Roger Mills, Custer, Washita, Caddo, lake, but added that there is no con- U.S. Department of Agriculture is USGS to conduct “a master multi- Grady, Murray, Carter and Johnston sensus on the survival rate of young participating in a Red Bayou Water- state study” of the Red River basin, counties before it empties into Lake striped bass if the chloride content de- shed Project north of Shreveport, La., analyzing the quantity and quality of Texoma ñ carry heavy loads of sedi- creased substantially. in which approximately 14,000 acres water along the entire length of the ment and salts. The estimated natural of crops are irrigated with water si- river and its entire watershed. chloride load in the Red River Basin is Red River Water Diluted Down- phoned from the Red River. Water-grabbing: is Oklahoma next? by Chris Chandler, JD Over the last 20 years, Saudi Ara- or licensed ...for the purpose of own- of farming or ranching pursuant to 18 unlike other parts of Arizona, has bia emptied an aquifer which had been ing or leasing any interest in land to O.S. 953(C) and 18 O.S. 954 (1998).” minimal restrictions on groundwater. supplying water to people in the desert be used in the business of farming or 1999 OK AG 50, at ¶6. (emphasis They will drain the aquifer, then move since biblical times. Now companies ranching” per Title 18 § 951, there ap- added). on. from Saudi Arabia and the UAE are pears to be an exception in § 953(C) There is no incentive for a foreign Foreign-owned corporations are al- pumping vast amounts of water from for corporations engaged in “food can- corporation to conserve groundwater. ready operating in Oklahoma. Smith- aquifers in drought-stricken Arizona ning operations, food processing or The long-term effects will not impact field Foods, Inc., headquartered in and California. Oklahoma could be frozen food processing insofar as such Saudis, Emiratis, or Chinese; they will Smithfield, Va., is now a subsidiary next. corporations engage in the raising of just move their operation to another of Chinese Shuanghui Group, now While Oklahoma law generally pro- food products for aforesaid purposes.” location, leaving their former neigh- known as WH Group. Smithfield hibits foreign ownership of Oklahoma A 1999 Attorney General Opinion bors to deal with the consequences. already has hog-farm operations in real estate outside of “incorporated states “Domestic and foreign corpora- Almarai Co., the Saudi dairy corpora- Oklahoma. It is vital that Oklahoma cities and towns” per Article 22 § 2 of tions that are engaged in enumerated tion which purchased 15 square miles clarify and strengthen its laws to pro- the Oklahoma Constitution and “ no operations may own or lease an inter- of land to grow alfalfa in Arizona, did tect its water from being plundered by foreign corporation shall be formed est in land to be used in the business so because the area they purchased, foreign corporations. Spring 2016 » Oklahoma Water Issues » 7

COMPACT continued from page 1 Third, the US Supreme The Compact is a matter of research and learn about the Court unanimously ruled in water quantity and quality. connection between surface 2013 against the diversion of Lastly, it is ethically wrong and groundwater. water by Texas before it reaches to advocate that Oklahoma Rick Branam, ORWP the Red River. Likewise, if sell its most vital and precious Vice-President and retired Oklahoma were to attempt the resource – as if it were oil, gas, Oklahoma District Judge, same diversion of water for or some other commodity. envisions, “Oklahoma’s more nefarious purposes, then Oklahoma’s state agencies, future is solely dependent they’d undoubtedly be dealt legislature, tribal nations, and upon our ability to manage the same heavy-handed blow universities are hard at work our water resources. Tourism, from the US Supreme Court. conducting scientific studies recreation, culture, history, Fourth, if Oklahoma were to gather the information we and wildlife are sustainable to start hoarding and selling need to make responsible sources of economic activity water, then a multi-state decisions. for Oklahoma, even during lawsuit would explode. Why? For instance, Senate repeated cycles of extreme Downstream states, Concurrent Resolution 32 drought. These industries irrigators, and other water adopted by the Oklahoma paint a bright picture for right holders who have been legislature in 2014 kicked- Oklahoma hundreds of years pumping from the Red River off a master study of the Red into the future – if our water is for decades have vowed to River; Governor Mary Fallin managed responsibly.” hold Oklahoma accountable has masterminded the state’s in the court of law if most arduous water goals by Oklahoma were to violate initiating studies through the their dual commitment to Water for 2060 and Instream improving water quality and Flow committees; and, navigation on the Red River. Oklahoma is beginning to

ORWP BOARD OF DIRECTORS Charlette Hearne Jim Cox Jerry Ellis President Educator and Rancher Former State Senator Judge Richard Branam Don Faulkner Jim Robinson Vice-President Business Owner Rancher-Contractor Retired District Judge Jimmy George Wayne Sexton Ron Boyer Business Owner Chairman, Pittsburgh County Bryan Co. Commissioner Soil Conservation District* Chuck Hutchinson Dr. Harvey Arnold Retired/Landowner Dale Turner Secretary/Treasurer Retired State Representative Retired Lawyer/Veterinarian John Medders County Commissioner, Stephanie Quick Dusty Smallwood Latimer County* Rancher Educator and Rancher *Titles and organizations names for identification purposes only CONTACT US

Charlette Hearne President Chris Chandler Glover River gauge height May thru November 2015. This graph demon- [email protected] [email protected] srates that surface water flows out of Oklahoma very quickly. (405) 686-8600 580-579-7477 8 « Oklahoma Water Issues « Spring 2016 EXTREME

DROUGHTUS Drought Monitor OKLAHOMA 5

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http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/