TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa District hosted Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe, the City of Enid Mayor George Pankonin, and other officials for a signing ceremony of the City of Enid Water Contract Feb. 18 at the District Headquarters. The signing is the culmination of a process that began in 2013 for the city to purchase 20,000 acre feet (af) of storage at Kaw Lake. The city requested through Sen. Inhofe legislative assistance to help cover some of the prohibitive costs compound interest associated with the costs of water storage Sen. Inhofe secured provisions in legislation that changed the pricing structure for purchasing water from USACE lakes.
Section 348 of WRDA 2020 was enacted and provided for reduced costs of water supply storage in the Arkansas River Basin, and a new draft water supply agreement was presented to the City of Enid with the costs of 20,000af now roughly $5 million rather than the initial cost estimate of $13 million. The agreement was presented to Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works in August 2021 and approved in November 2021.
“Our cost for the water storage is $8.5 million less because of the efforts of Jim Inhofe and his office,” said Pankonin.
During remarks at the ceremony, the mayor thanked City of Enid leaders, past and present, and the community for having the foresight to plan for future water supply needs now, and Sen. Inhofe for his leadership and support of the Enid community.
He also thanked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its role in providing water supply to stakeholders and the other various ways Corps projects improve the quality of life for citizens.
“I thank them for their support for the water we’re talking about today, but also all the other projects the Corps has done over the years. They make our places, the places that we live and work, worthy and they help us to keep all of that going,” said Pankonin.
The process of pursuing new surface water supply from Kaw for Enid began in 2013 with Phase 1 of Enid’s Kaw Lake Alternate Water Supply Program. The four-phase, 70-mile pipeline project has an estimated cost of $315 million and is estimated to be completed by 2023.
The Tulsa District has more water storage agreements than any other district in USACE with 60 percent.
| Date Taken: | 02.18.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 02.18.2022 16:56 |
| Story ID: | 414957 |
| Location: | TULSA, OKLAHOMA, US |
| Web Views: | 86 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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