2 former governors urge Oklahoma to sell water

December 01, 2008 05:36 pm

— FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Two former Oklahoma governors have urged state officials to reverse course and sell water to thirsty North Texas communities.
Citing recent federal court decisions, the ex-governors also said Oklahoma risks being forced to give away the water for the price of a permit if it continues to oppose selling water.
“I think it is important to be coldly sensible and logical and do what is best for us, and what is best for us is always making money,” said Frank Keating, governor from 1995 to 2003, in a story Saturday in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The recommendations of Keating and former Gov. David Walters comes about a month after a federal appeals judge in Denver denied a request by Oklahoma officials to throw out the lawsuit filed by the Tarrant Regional Water District in Fort Worth.
The lawsuit claims Oklahoma’s ban on selling water to out-of-state interests is unconstitutional.
The lawsuit is connected to a running dispute between the states about water in Oklahoma flowing from the Kiamichi River and two smaller rivers in southeastern Oklahoma.
North Texas cities want to build an extensive pipeline to capture Oklahoma’s water before it mixes with salty water in the Red River.
Texas officials would prefer that Oklahoma enter into an agreement to sell water to them instead of awaiting a resolution to the lawsuit, which could take years.
Walters called Oklahoma’s efforts to block the sale as the state’s “single most serious policy mistake.”
“I would expect, and most thinking Oklahomans think, that Texas will win this,” said Walters, who was governor from 1991 to 1995. “The only people who get mad are the people who don’t understand the issue.”
Texas water officials also are urging Oklahoma officials to yield, even if it costs Texas taxpayers more money.
Jim Oliver, general manager of the Tarrant Regional Water District, said Oklahoma officials should consider making a deal before the lawsuit goes to trial.
“It is like a poker game,” Oliver said. “They need to decide what their cards are and what they want to play because I think we have the upper hand. We’ll just win the lawsuit and get it for nothing.”
But opponents of the sale said restricting water sales to out-of-state buyers is a matter of preserving Oklahoma’s water supply during droughts.
“Texas will never get enough,” said Jerry Ellis, a state representative who will become a state senator in January. “They will permit and permit, and every time you look up we’ll be in the courthouse with them.”