State Will Help Pay For Bartlesville Water Study

Wednesday, December 20th 2006, 10:54 am

By: News On 6

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. (AP) The Oklahoma Water Resources Board will help pay for an ongoing federal study that will focus on possible long-term solutions for supplying water to the Washington County town of Bartlesville.

The Bartlesville city council approved an agreement Wednesday that will allow the water board to help fund the $245,000 study that is being done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The state Legislature amended the state budget to allow for the water board's participation, Bartlesville Mayor Julie Daniels said. Otherwise, the city would have had to pay $92,500 and other fees to match federal funds for the study, she said.

She said state Sen. John Ford, R-Bartlesville, intervened on behalf of the city.

The study is focusing on Hulah and Copan lakes, which already supply water to Washington County, and Kaw Lake, which could be a new water source for Bartlesville.

Water-source issues have been a focus of city leaders since 2002, after a drought dropped water levels in Hulah Lake. The study, which is looking at ways to satisfy Bartlesville's water needs through 2055, should be finished by May.