U.S. Water News Online
OKLAHOMA CITY -- A local company is pitching an 88-mile, $200 million water pipeline from southern Oklahoma as a cheaper water source for seven west Oklahoma City communities.
The pipeline would provide millions of gallons of water a day to communities that now rely on Oklahoma City as a backup source.
Piedmont was the first community to approve the plan.
In the next few weeks, Gary Jackson, founder of PESA LLC, will be making presentations to the city councils of six other communities, as well as the Canadian County commissioners.
The Central Oklahoma Water Resource Authority is a Title 60 public trust founded last year to find a solution for the area's long-term water needs. Authority members are Piedmont, El Reno, Yukon, Mustang, Calumet, Okarche, Union City and Canadian County.
John Brown, who represents Piedmont on the authority, said buying water from Oklahoma City is tricky, especially in the driest months.
The city requires communities to contract for the amount of water they expect to purchase in a month. If a city uses less water than it has contracted for, it still has to pay for the full amount, Brown said.
The standard fee Oklahoma City charges is $1.60 per 1,000 gallons. That rate increases to $2.30 per 1,000 gallons if the city consumes twice its contracted amount in a month.
``We are a retail customer, not a wholesale customer,'' Brown said. ``We pay pretty much what a resident in Oklahoma City would pay.''
Would a $200 million pipeline be more cost effective?
``We don't feel like the cost per 1,000 gallons is going to be out of line compared to what we pay with Oklahoma City,'' Brown said.
The Garber-Wellington Aquifer is the primary water source for most Canadian County communities, but the aquifer contains high levels of arsenic, according to federal standards that will be implemented in 2006.
Water from the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer near Ada, which the authority expects to draw from by 2006, doesn't contain any arsenic and only requires chlorination, Jackson said.
The full costs of the project have yet to be determined. The amount will depend on how many communities sign up and how much water they agree to buy.
PESA plans to independently finance the deal. Authority members will repay PESA by buying water. Once PESA has paid off its debt -- which will take about 20 years -- the authority will own the pipeline.
The $200 million estimate would provide for the pipeline and pumping equipment to deliver water from the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer to a central point in Canadian County.
A secondary system would be needed to pipe water from that point to each of the authority's communities. The cost of that system has not been determined.
The authority will seek grants to help fund the project, but its possible they may have to resort to bonds or a countywide sales tax to help pay the cost.
PESA's sister company, Set Apart Inc. would arrange for the water supply and handle legal issues. Set Apart has marketing agreements with five ranchers who hold Arbuckle-Simpson water rights, Jackson said.
Any water sale by ranchers would require approval from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board.
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