'Water In The River' Talk Ripples Throughout Tulsa

People who have lived in Tulsa a while remember when the Arkansas River was a place to have fun.

There was rowing, sand castle contests and a swimming hole that was always packed.

A lot of folks believe it's time we got back to that and paid homage to the glory days by showcasing one of our biggest assets.

It's such a hot topic around Tulsa that newly re-elected mayor Dewey Bartlett even made it the central promise of his inauguration speech, saying: "There will be water in the river."

But Bartlett says river development will not wait on City Hall. It's going to be spurred by private development, like the Kaiser Foundation's Gathering Place and the Creek Nation's Margaritaville casino development. Between them, it's more than $500 million of investment.

As Rick Wells shows us, plans to put 'water in the river" are moving along… slowly but surely.

Click above to see Rick's video, and if you are using the News On 6 app with your smartphone or tablet, you can find it in the "videos" section.

And for extra fun, you can follow the #WaterInTheRiver hashtags on Twitter by clicking here.