Oklahoma is the first state in the nation to establish a statewide goal of consuming no more fresh water in 2060 than was consumed in 2012.
More than 150 institutions joined the White House summit in announcing new efforts and on-going commitments to enhance the sustainability of water in the U.S. by managing water resources and infrastructure for the long term, according to a press release issued by Strong's office this week.
"It was an honor to represent the State of Oklahoma at the summit today, and to have the opportunity to highlight the hard work of my fellow Water for 2060 Advisory Council members," Strong said on Tuesday. "Oklahoma's Water for 2060 effort, and even more importantly the 2012 Update of the Oklahoma Comprehensive Water Plan, are proof that our state is already a leader in proactive, thorough, and inclusive water planning and management practices."
In 2012 the Oklahoma Legislature passed House Bill 3055 — the Water for 2060 Act — which established the goal of using no more fresh water in 2060 than was used in 2012 while supporting Oklahoma’s continued growth and prosperity.
To fight drought and develop a secure water future, Norman worked in alignment with the state's goal through the creation of its 2060 Long Term Strategic Water Supply Plan.
"The state water plan was happening parallel to our water plan," Norman Utility Director Ken Komiske said. "The state plan was about a year ahead of us."
Coinciding with the state's plan, Norman's long-term plan is also to use no more fresh water in 2060, Komiske said, but that is a long-term goal with many hurdles yet to be cleared. Creating the state and city plans are significant steps toward achieving that goal.
"In the short term, we are drilling more wells," Komiske said. "We will be using more fresh water than we did in 2014, so we won't match that exactly, but the big piece is that the majority of our new water in the future will come from reuse."
Currently, about 70 percent of Norman’s water supply is “surface water” coming from Lake Thunderbird with another 27 percent of the water needs coming from city wells drilled into the Garber Wellington aquifer. Norman also purchases a base amount of water from Oklahoma City. Norman has actively pursued non-potable reuse opportunities and is looking at direct and in-direct potable reuse possibilities in the long-term future.
During the creation of the city's strategic water supply plan, city leaders examined a variety of potential sources and built a portfolio of diverse water supply options for consideration on how to best meet quality and quantity water demands to serve residents and city businesses into the future.
How to remove heavy metal contaminants, the feasibility of reuse, and the role of water conservation were all part of Norman's discussion as were the quality, affordability and sustainability of possible water sources, but each city in Oklahoma faces unique challenges.
To encourage Oklahomans toward the 2060 goal, a final report of recommendations, submitted to Governor Fallin and the State Legislature in October 2015 by the Water for 2060 Advisory Council, "contains 12 key recommendations that are the product of interactive dialogue with water users across Oklahoma and collaborative discussions to determine approaches that can effectively promote water efficiency efforts by all Oklahomans," according to OWRB.
"The advisory council based its recommendations on best practices in use in Oklahoma and incentive programs in place in other states" according to the press release issued by OWRB. "The information was supplemented with an analysis of data from the 2012 Update of the Oklahoma Comprehensive Water Plan and estimates of the cost-effectiveness of various measures for enhancing water use efficiency and the use of alternative sources of supply."
The Oklahoma Comprehensive Water Plan provides projections for water demands though 2060 for each of the state’s seven major water use sectors indicating that fresh water use would need to be reduced by about 33 percent to meet the Water for 2060 goal, according to the report.
"Chiefly, Water for 2060 is designed to elevate the focus on the most overlooked, and without a doubt, cheapest source of water – conserved water," Strong said. "By practicing conservation, we can avoid being forced in to more drastic and costly measures while in the midst of drought, and also prevent a return to excessive ways when the drought subsides. Most importantly, we can ensure that all current Oklahomans, and all future generations, have a supply of clean, safe water for decades to come."
In Washington on Tuesday, Councilman Nelson Cordova from the Pueblo Tribal Council, Taos, New Mexico — one of the nation's oldest living communities — was the first speaker and highlighted concerns by Native Americans and the threat of drought on the ability of many communities to survive.
“Water is a sacred resource,” Cordova said. “Without water there is no survival.”
©2016 The Norman Transcript (Norman, Okla. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
