Federal Court Sides With Oklahoma In Texas Water Lawsuit

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, Oklahoma -- Just days after Oklahoma's new water plan was approved and sent to the Oklahoma legislature, a federal appeals court denied a request by the Tarrant Regional Water District in Texas to take water from Oklahoma.

Oklahoma officials have fought Texas' attempts to purchase water since 2007.

The water district wants to buy more than 100 billion gallons from Oklahoma tributaries of the Red River.

In 2006, Oklahoma lawmakers approved a bill to extend a moratorium on out-of-state water sales.  That legislation spawned the 2007 lawsuit.  Even with the federal ruling, the battle over Oklahoma water is far from over.

"No, this is gonna be a fight for a long time between the state of Oklahoma and the state of Texas. And again, as long as the state of Texas doesn't have our best interest at heart, they're gonna keep coming back at us and it's gonna be over and over again, so we've gotta be on our toes, we've gotta be ready, and we've gotta be willing to fight for the future of Oklahoma water," said State Representative Eric Proctor of Tulsa.

You can find more on this story in Tuesday's edition of The Journal Record.