The Oklahoma Supreme Court upheld a lower court judge’s ruling in favor of the Oklahoma Water Resources Board in a legal fight over a project by Oklahoma City to divert stream water from the Kiamichi River and Sardis Lake in Pushmataha County.
As OK Energy Today a few years ago, the reported case involved a lawsuit filed by Debbie Leo of the Miller Lake Retreat LLC, Larinda McClellan, the Louise Redman Trust, Walter Myrl Redman and Kenneth Roberts. They appealed to the Supreme Court after a district judge ruled in support of Oklahoma City and the Water Resources Board.
The original suit was filed in protest of Oklahoma City’s stream water permit application made in 2017. Eighty-five individuals and troups protested the application and filed a challenge in Pushmataha Country District Court.
They fought the Water Board’s decision to approve a water-use permit authorizing Oklahoma City to take up to 115,000 acre-feet of water, or nearly 37.5 billion gallons a year, from the Kiamichi River and Sardis Lake, which is an impoundment of Jackford Creek, a tributary of the river.
As the case proceeded, Oklahoma City won a favorable ruling from District Judge Michael DeBerry in 2020.
