World: Watts More Interested In Texas?

From The Tulsa World Editorial Page ~ Former U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts may be thinking about running for governor of Oklahoma, but some of his recent activities suggest he's more interested in representing Texas interests.

It came to light recently that Watts' Washington-based lobbying firm has been representing the Tarrant Regional Water District since late 2007.

The Tarrant group, recently joined by the city of Dallas, has sued the state of Oklahoma, seeking to overturn a moratorium blocking out-of-state water sales.

A spokesman for Watts' firm said its staff isn't involved in the Oklahoma water dispute, but a spokesman for the water district said Watts' firm has "helped us understand the dynamics of water resource issues in Oklahoma."

Watts' involvement on behalf of the Texans isn't the only curious wrinkle in this long-running battle over what happens to Oklahoma's water resources. This week, legislative leaders have been engaging in intense and increasingly frantic talks in an effort to come up with legislation addressing out-of-state water requests.

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Jerry Ellis Blasts Texas Water District Request

State Rep. Jerry Ellis, southeastern Oklahoma Democrat, today ripped Texans representing the Tarrant Regional Water District; he said the group "came to Oklahoma with a hostile attitude last week." The water district serves 1.6 million people in north central Texas. In 50 years, their population could triple.

On Thursday, January 11, the Texas group requested three water permits to take 460,000 acre-feet from three water basins in Oklahoma, Ellis said, and they also filed suit to break the five-year water-sale moratorium approved by the Oklahoma Legislature in 2004. The law stopping the sale of water to out-of-state interests expires in 2009.

The three water basins targeted by Texas are Kiamichi (which could lose 310,000 acre-feet, or 15 billion gallons per year, if the Texas lawsuit succeeds), Cache Creek (125,000 acre-feet per year) and Beaver Creek (25,000 acre-feet per year), Ellis said in a news release. The total amount of water sought by the Texans is more than Oklahoma City and Tulsa use combined.

Any out-of-state water sale should require approval of the Oklahoma Legislature, not action by a board or a U.S. District Judge who are appointed and never face the voters.

Ellis said that to allow this issue to be decided by the courts would gut democracy and the result would be communism without a firing squad.

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