U.S. Water News Online
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Fights between rural water districts and municipal governments over water rights has escalated with the formation of a group specifically intended to protect Oklahoma cities in such disputes.
Danny George, executive director of the Oklahoma Municipal League, says the move was necessary because the Oklahoma Rural Water Association consistently sided against communities that wanted to expand. Instead of fighting cities' growth, George said the association should stick to the job of making sure rural homes have safe drinking water.
``Nothing should be permitted to interfere with the economic growth of Oklahoma's cities and towns,'' he said. ``Economic development is in everyone's best interest.''
Rural Water Association Executive Director Gene Whatley said he regrets that the Municipal League formed the rival group and is trying to keep communities from quitting his organization. A letter from Whatley to cities and towns in the Rural Water Association said member dues are not spent on litigation between rural and water urban providers.
``This has been going on since the early 1980s,'' Whatley said. ``But it is getting more intense now. I am really disappointed that the league is taking this tactic to try to address the problem. To me, they kind of have taken it to a personal level.''
The Municipal League's new group is called the Associated Municipal Water Providers.
Recent problems between municipal and rural water districts include a disagreement between Holdenville and a neighboring district over who would sell water to a private prison and a lawsuit against McAlester filed by a water district that wanted service rights to an industrial park and fairgrounds.
In Union City, a dispute with a rural water district has left a fire station without toilets. Firefighters must also haul in the water they use on fire trucks.
Whatley and George say the service disputes happen because rural water district boundaries were drawn right up to city limit lines decades ago. They said no one thought about what would happen once cities expanded.
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