Water board sets meetings for update of Oklahoma Comprehensive Water Plan

LONE WOLF — Quartz Mountain State Lodge will be a host site next week for the third round of meetings to help the Oklahoma Water Resources Board update the state’s Comprehensive Water Plan.

The session is set from 1-4 p.m. Monday at the lodge, 22469 Lodge Road, contained within Quartz Mountain State Park north of Altus on U.S. 283 and Oklahoma 44.

OWRB officials said round three meetings will be focused on updated local water supply and demand projections through 2075; water quality trends; and local issues. Sessions are set for each region of the state. The planning region to be covered at Quartz Mountain State Lodge is Southwest Oklahoma, which includes the West Central, Southwest, Beaver-Cache and Lower Washita planning regions.

The meetings are designed to solicit input, with targets to include water utility suppliers, regulated industry, commercial agricultural producers, economic development entities and representing organizations. During the session, OWRB officials will provide state and regional summaries of water demand, water supply and water quality data. Breakout sessions will present regional level data and allow discussion of local challenges.

Other meetings are set Tuesday at the Choctaw Nation Community Center in Antlers for southeast Oklahoma; Thursday at the High Plans Technology Center in Woodward for the Panhandle region; Friday at OSU-Tulsa campus in Tulsa for northeast region; and May 3 in Oklahoma City for the state’s central region. A virtual meeting will be held from 10 a.m. to noon April 22, with a link to that meeting on the Oklahoma Water Resources Board website at oklahoma.gov/owrb.html.