Oklahoma State Senate
Communications Division
State Capitol
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
For Immediate
Release: January 24, 2012
Sen.
Marlatt urges OKC to adopt more aggressive water conservation; says planned
draw down would kill Canton Lake for 5 to 10 years
(For digital audio, go to www.oksenate.gov and select “Media”)
OKLAHOMA
CITY –Taking an additional
30,000 acre-feet of water from Canton Lake would only be a temporary fix for
Oklahoma City’s water woes, but the immediate and long-term impact on western
Oklahoma would be devastating, with repercussions for the entire state, said
State Sen. Bryce Marlatt, R-Woodward. He
urged Oklahoma City officials to be better stewards of the resource—and better
neighbors to Western Oklahoma.
The state’s largest city announced watering limits last week, but Marlatt
said that move was really too little, too late.
This week it was reported that the city’s water utilities department will
present plans for more aggressive conservation measures, including higher
prices and increased rationing, over the next few weeks. Marlatt said those should be enacted before
taking water from western Oklahoma.
“Everyone knows we are in a prolonged drought, and cutting back on
outdoor watering in the dead of winter really isn’t a solution. Oklahoma City’s ultimate plan is a huge draw
on Canton Lake, the main recreational lake in western Oklahoma, but this is
essentially going to kill our lake,” Marlatt said. “Legally, they have the right to do it. But it doesn’t make it morally right. Oklahoma City needs to do everything it
possibly can to avoid this draw down for as long as possible.”
Canton Lake is not only important to fisherman who head there for
the plentiful walleye, sand bass, catfish and more—it is also the walleye
hatchery for the entire state. The plan
to draw an additional 30,000 acre-feet of water would end that.
“It is essentially going to
kill the lake for five to 10 years. All
the game fish that people come for will die out, and there will be no more
walleye hatchery,” Marlatt said. “This
is going to have a negative impact on lakes throughout Oklahoma.”
Although Oklahoma City has the legal rights to the water in Canton
Lake, it is still a critical part of western Oklahoma’s tourism and recreation,
but like the hatchery, any recreational use of the lake will become a thing of
the past once the water is gone.
“Once they draw the water, recreational boating will be
nonexistent. The remaining water will
not reach a single boat ramp. People who
come to boat and fish will stop coming and it’s going to impact local
economies—restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations, and cabin rentals will see
all those dollars go away,” Marlatt said. “That’s going to have a chain reaction
in our local economy.”
Rep. Mike Sanders, R-Kingfisher, said it is critical for Oklahoma
City to view taking the water from Lake Canton as a last resort to be avoided
as long as possible. He also urged the
metro to look at more aggressive ways to limit water use.
“The
economic and environmental impact to Canton and western Oklahoma will be felt
for years to come if this goes through,” Sanders said. “This is a dire
situation, and the fact of the matter is, if they aren’t conserving water, then
they are actually wasting water. We
simply don’t have the water to waste.”
Marlatt called the situation a disaster for western Oklahoma, and
a potential disaster for Oklahoma City.
“At best, this is only a temporary fix for Oklahoma City,” Marlatt
said. “But once they take this water
from Canton Lake, that’s it--the water will be gone and people in both parts of
the state are going to pay the price for Oklahoma City not doing more to
conserve this precious resource.”
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