Expiration of RDF Stream Water Permit
No. 2001-015
They Commit to Keep Working!

People around Lake Eufaula and SE Oklahoma have cause to celebrate the expiration of the stream water permit but still are gearing up to fight for reallocation of water and a Federal Advisory Committee for Lake Eufaula.

(Eufaula) - The Save Our Water Lake Eufaula Citizens Group had cause for celebration Tuesday afternoon, November 7, after they learned that the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) has denied a request for the extension of a permit that would allow water to be pumped out of Lake Eufaula.

The Rural Development Foundation (RDF), an alleged non-profit organization out of Antlers, OK, had purchased Stream Water Permit #2001-015, but had not met all requirements required of them by September, 2005.

OWRB Executive Director Duane Smith issued a letter November 7, 2005, to the Foundation saying they had shown no sufficient cause to grant the extension, including the fact they had not finalized a water storage contract with the Corps of Engineers. "The RDF has not finalized a water storage contract the Corps of Engineers, nor had the RDF began any construction or shown engineering difficulty or other valid reason over which the RDF had no control," the letter stated. "The permit is deemed to have expiated on its own terms and is no longer valid."

In a letter written to Smith making the request, Karla Hall, Chairperson for RDF, said the contract calls for payments to the Corps of Engineers for over $4,000,000.00 in fees for storage rights over the term of the agreement. "The communities and rural water systems in the area to be served by this permit have indicated that water supplied by this project would really assist them in meeting State and Federal requirements effective in 2006," Hall stated in the letter.

"This is the best news I have heard in a year and a half," said Joe Ward, Executive Director of the Lake Eufaula Association (LEA).  Members of the LEA and citizens of the area have been working diligently for almost two years trying to stop the RDF project.

The Foundation permit was to withdraw water from Lake Eufaula for power, industrial, commercial, and municipal purposes.  They were planning a 54 inch pipeline with a water intake structure capable of withdrawing up to 50,000 gallons of water per minute or 72,000,000 gallons per day from Lake Eufaula.

"This is great news for the people around Lake Eufaula and Southeastern Oklahoma," stated Karen Weldin, Co-Chair of the Save Our Water Lake Eufaula Citizens Group. "However, we need to celebrate today and get right back to work tomorrow. Now is the time to go to work to do what is necessary to get the water in this lake reallocated and to get a Federal Lake Advisory Committee formed.  We must work to ensure we never have to go through what we just did again."

The Save Our Water Lake Eufaula Citizens Group has launched an area wide organizing campaign to recruit concerned persons to help protect the interests of those living in a large circumference around Lake Eufaula.  

"We must keep working diligently until we remedy the grave concerns of the people of Southeast Oklahoma and have implemented a plan of protection with regard to Lake Eufaula," said Sunnie Williams, Co-Chair of the Citizens Group.  "We're going to work and work hard until we make sure we have a plan to protect our wildlife, businesses, jobs, real estate values, tourism, and the overall economy of Lake Eufaula and surrounding areas! Now, if we can just get it to rain!"

The Save Our Water Lake Eufaula Citizens Group is a group of community leaders, business owners, lake area and Oklahoma residents and concerned citizens who have come together to work to protect their interests in Lake Eufaula water.

Save Our Water Lake Eufaula Citizens Group is meeting every Friday at 1:30 p.m. at the Lake Eufaula Association office at 701 S. Main, Eufaula.  All interested and concerned persons are welcome and urged to attend.  For more information, log on to www.saveourwaterlakeeufaula.com" or call 918-689-7751 or 918-452-3184.

www.saveourwaterlakeeufaula.com