press release (1/17/02)            back to water sale main page

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SIERRA CLUB OPPOSES TEXAS WATER SALE, PREDICTS BATTLE IS NOT OVER

The Oklahoma Sierra Club today reaffirmed its opposition to both the proposed sale of southeast Oklahoma water to Texas, and the water compact between the State of Oklahoma and the Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes, which they fear will be a disaster for Oklahoma’s citizens and environment.

“We think the announcement from the Governor's office that negotiations with the Texas group have ended because they can't agree on a price is just a smokescreen," stated Chris Corbett, Chairman of the Oklahoma Chapter of the Sierra Club. "Texas still wants to drain hundreds of millions of gallons of water per day from Oklahoma. We fully expect efforts to continue to push this plan through the Legislature this session," Corbett said.

"The reasons we originally opposed the water sale and compact still exist. We believe it would be impossible to provide the enormous quantities of water Texas wants to buy without having to create additional dams, impoundments or reservoirs.  We shouldn't have to be damming up our beautiful rivers, and harming the wildlife of those rivers, just to allow the people of the Dallas metroplex to continue their wasteful ways," Corbett added.

"We've been given only vague, unsupported assurances by the Water Resources Board that no dams or impoundments will be built and that the ecological integrity of the rivers will not be harmed. When we ask to see plans for how the water will actually be taken from our rivers and put into a pipeline to Texas, we're told there are no specific plans yet, " said Corbett. "When we ask to see the scientific studies that show the rivers and wildlife won't be harmed, we're told they haven't been done yet.  These studies should be conducted before any compacts or sales are agreed to, not after" Corbett said.

 "We're also concerned about businesses and municipalities in southeast Oklahoma that may now be in compliance with federal water quality standards but will fall out of compliance if water flows are reduced. This represents a potentially huge hidden cost for Oklahoma that hasn't even beeZnsidered yet. Oklahomans would have to bear the costs to regain compliance with the law and Texas wouldn't have to pay a dime,” added Corbett.  “Oklahomans would actually be paying to send water to Texas.”

"We're asking why is there this mad rush to complete a deal to sell the water when we haven't even done basic scientific and economic studies to assess its potential impacts? Water will undoubtedly be one of Oklahoma's most important resources during the next hundred years. This sale is an issue with not only huge, but also as yet unknown consequences.  Whatever we do, let's let our children be able to look back in fifty years and be proud of us, rather than condemn us for our shortsightedness,” concluded Corbett.