By ANDREW W. GRIFFIN

Oklahoma Watchdog, editor

Posted: June 29, 2010

andrew@oklahomawatchdog.org

OKLAHOMA CITY — The City of Oklahoma City and other communities in central Oklahoma won’t be dying of thirst in coming years thanks to a financial decision made this month by the Oklahoma City Water Utilities Trust.

But another group, the Oklahomans for Responsible Water Policy claimed Tuesday that the Trust has jumped the gun, as it were, and are planning to file a lawsuit next week, according to spokeswoman Amy Ford.

This month, the trust gave the Oklahoma Water Resources Board $27 million which was to be paid to the federal government for the cost of building Sardis Lake, as reported Tuesday in The Oklahoman, in a story headlined $27 million “Sardis Lake debt paid.”

Oklahoma Watchdog has been watching this story develop in recent months, with an April 28th story headlined “Group claims letter exposes water scheme” followed by a June 16th article headlined “Sardis water grab approved by OWRB.”

Following the payment to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the southeastern Oklahoma reservoir built in the early 1970s, Ford told Oklahoma Watchdog that her group views the “entire action as illegal.”

” Whether or not a payment has been made, we’re ready to move forward to stop it,” Ford said.

A copy of a qui tam letter – notice of demand – which was sent to members of both the OWRB and the Trust was given to Oklahoma Watchdog.

The letter states: “We believe the proposed sales are not only unauthorized, unlawful and illegal but are a gross mishandling of public resources and taxpayer money.”

Referencing Oklahoma statutes, they not that these statutes “do not permit the OWRB to transfer storage rights to any party. Rather, that authority was granted by the Oklahoma Legislature exclusively to the now defunct Oklahoma Water Storage Commission.”

Larry Derryberry, the former state attorney general, is helping represent the ORWP.

“Ratepayers of Oklahoma City should be a little concerned,” Ford said. “The money out there has not been approved by Corps.” She added that the Department of the Interior says there are things that need to be addressed before contract goes forward.

A letter from Larry Echo Hawk, assistant secretary of Indian Affairs for the U.S. Department of the Interior, wrote a letter to Rudolf Hermann, chairman of the OWRB and wrote that “issues involving the rights and interests of the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations” should be considered and that “Based on these considerations, I request that the Board defer any final action of the proposed transfer pending consultancies with the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations and with appropriate Federal officials.” This letter was copied and sent to Gov. Brad Henry and Treasurer Scott Meacham, as well. The tribes, notes The Oklahoman story, “are considering lawsuits to protect their interests.”

Ford reiterated that there are a “multitude of problems” with the transfer from the state to the city trust. And as for the governor and treasurer, Ford said.

“Henry and Meacham basically thumbed their noses at us,” added Ford.

Oklahoma Watchdog did speak to Jim Couch, the city manager for the City of Oklahoma City. He said the $27 million used came from a trust and directed further questions to Marsha Slaughter, the general manager of the Trust.

To reiterate, the OWRB had voted 5-2 earlier this month to “endorse a controversial proposal to sell the water storage rights of the Sardis Reservoir to the city of Oklahoma City.”

And this taxpayer’s organization out of southeastern Oklahoma is going to fight it with everything they’ve got.

“There’s a lot of hinky stuff going on out there,” Ford said. “We’re trying to sort through it.”

Copyright 2010 Oklahoma Watchdog