"I am telling you, Ardmore can't survive without water, and it can't survive without Arbuckle Lake and the aquifer," he said. "Without the water, we have nothing to offer in southern Oklahoma."

Drake was the first speaker when the Citizens for the Protection of the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer met for its monthly meeting Monday at the Southern Oklahoma Technology Center. The group was organized to protect the aquifer, an underground basin which provides drinking water for Ardmore and many other southern Oklahoma communities. The aquifer feeds the springs that are the source of water for Turner Falls, Arbuckle Lake, Pennington Creek, the Blue River and the creeks in the Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Should the water level of the aquifer drop significantly, it would have a devastating effect on both the area's drinking water supply and its economy.

Four southern Oklahoma landowners, who own land above the aquifer, want to profit by pumping up to 20 million gallons of water a day to Canadian County. The landowners say the selling of groundwater is a private property right.

Fearing the sale would deplete local water supplies, Senate Bill 288 was introduced in the state legislature to delay the plan. The measure prohibits pumping groundwater to a county outside the aquifer's basin until a comprehensive study is completed. Further, it requires that all new or renewal permits for water use within the aquifer must show the withdrawals will not deplete subterranean water supplies. The bill passed both houses, and Gov. Brad Henry signed the measure last June.

A contract signed between the Oklahoma Water Resources Board and the U.S Bureau of Reclamation in August calls for sharing the cost of the aquifer study. No"l Osborn, a geologist with the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, explained the first phase of the projected five-year, $5.1 million study which is currently under way. The initial stage includes a review of related literature, compiling and reviewing existing data, conducting field investigations and initiating groundwater flow model simulations.

The group which is trying to siphon off water from the aquifer a filed a lawsuit in Oklahoma County to challenge the bill. The civil suit contends the law is unconstitutional because it takes away personal property rights and does not affect all communities equally. Citizens for the Protection of the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer has hired an attorney to defend SB 288.

The battle over water has begun, and the members of this southern Oklahoma citizens' group are willing to fight to protect the aquifer.

"Our economic future is a stake in this issue," said Dr. Gary Greene, the organization's president.

Steve Biehn, 221-6546 or steve.biehn@ardmoreite.com.

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