Seeking a statewide water use policy

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Southern Oklahoma residents press their demands at the State Capitol for a statewide water policy.<br/><br/>The group is focusing attention on a bitter legal dispute over an Oklahoma

Tuesday, March 29th 2005, 6:19 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Southern Oklahoma residents press their demands at the State Capitol for a statewide water policy.

The group is focusing attention on a bitter legal dispute over an Oklahoma aquifer.

Residents met with lawmakers Monday and discussed their opposition to plans by local property owners to sell millions of gallons of water from the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer.

Many residents say the proposed sale could dry up the aquifer that is the only source of water for Ada, Ardmore, Durant and nearby cities and towns.

The proposed sale was blocked by a law passed in 2003 that prohibits pumping groundwater to a county outside of the aquifer's basin until a comprehensive study is performed.

Property owners challenged the law, and the case is pending in the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

The Central Oklahoma Water Resources Authority had proposed an 88-mile, $200-million pipeline to Canadian County to carry water from the aquifer.