I want to assure you that the Canton Lake Association will continue fighting for both the near-term and long term health of Canton Lake. I know it seems like the end of our lake world as we know it now that the gates are open and a water release is ongoing. The very simple word “a” in the preceding sentence is very important. This is A water release. Although mentally difficult, the focus needs to be directed to the NEXT water release and this could happen sooner than you might think. Marsha Slaughter, director of the OKC Water Utilities Trust, told the OKC city council recently that she expects Canton Lake to be back at full pool within 2 years and could see the potential for another 30,000 acre-foot release next year. (I would so love to address this balderdash but not here and not now). However, I feel that another release could occur very easily within the next few months. An important point regarding the current release is that the 20,000 or so acre-feet of water that will make it to OKC will not even fill Lake Hefner much less fill Lake Overholser or the Oklahoma River or any new water-devouring project that is on the horizon. Existing and proposed water conservation measures are not going to alleviate the current water crisis in OKC. It’s simply too late.
My prediction is that as soon as Canton Lake recovers 5 feet of water (could happen with a single very slow moving thunderstorm over Seiling this spring), OKC will be back for another release and this time it could dig 2 feet deeper than the current release. It’s possible that every 5-7 feet of water that returns to the lake for the foreseeable future will be immediately drawn to OKC. I feel they are in a desperate situation and they will not be a bit shy about returning to the scene of the crime and we’ll have to endure repeat performances. This is a war folks. This is not a time to be complacent and think there is nothing that you or anybody else can do. If OKC is not stopped or at least deterred, this will be a never-ending process.
The CLA is fighting like hell every day and night for the future of Canton Lake. You must become active in the process. Become educated about the problems and the process. Educate others with the facts and figures that are serving as the basis for our fight (feel free to email me anytime at lawnmowershopww@gmail.com if you want to discuss). Write to your congressman and senators. Do your own independent research. Talk to people everyday about the problem and increase public awareness. And last but not least become a member of the Canton Lake Association (see Canton Lake association facebook page). There is strength in numbers and we need numbers to win this war.
We have begun preliminary cooperation with "Oklahomans for Responsible Water Policy" (orwp.net) an organization from southeastern Oklahoma that is extremely involved in state water issues and has been influential in the battle over Lake Sardis between OKC and the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes. Jointly, we will be holding a public meeting in Canton in the very near future. They are kindly volunteering to help us in our fight and we need a large turnout at the meeting. Stay tuned for date and time.
Jeff Converse, President
Canton Lake Association
www.solarpumps.com
I would like to add James Couch, City Manager says "It is not practical to use all the water in every reservoir. And we really don't know what that percent is and how low we can take it down." This is evidence that for the short term a Plan B for Lake Hefner does not exist. The absence of a short term Plan B is further evidenced by Marsha Slaughter's unbelievable forward looking statement that she fully expects Canton Lake to fully refill in two years. Her predictions run counter to climatologists predictions and are nothing but failed attempts to evidence that the OCWUT had a short term Plan B in place for Lake Hefner. Make no mistake about it the OCWUT and Oklahoma City Council had no short term Plan B for Lake Hefner before or after the Canton Lake Association's meeting with Utilities Trust.
ReplyDeleteTom Adams, Board Member
Canton Lake Association
Amen Tom, that is exactly correct!
ReplyDelete