By Mindy Ragan Wood
Southwest Ledger
A decades old idea to build water pipelines from southeastern Oklahoma to the southwestern part of the state is back up for discussion.
City officials in Altus and Hugo are set to begin formal talks of a proposed water pipeline that could eventually extend between the two towns, officials familiar with the project told Southwest
Ledger.
Cody Pipeline Partners LLC, based in Texas, has approached several communities with a concept to boost water supply by identifying and harnessing numerous sources of excess water. While some discussion so far includes tapping into Hugo Lake, CPP company spokesman Tommie Herell said additional water sources available along the pipeline path would be used.
Portions of southern Oklahoma lack adequate water and power to continue growing, he said.
“If you can provide water into some of these areas that could economically thrive, it is going to be a game changer for southern Oklahoma,” Herell said.
Altus City Manager Gary Jones said the company approached Altus with the concept, but the discussion is preliminary and there is timeline for the project. If financially feasible, the pipeline would be built in phases and will require numerous agreements with city, state and tribal partners across the region, he said.
“Virtually everybody we’ve talked to thinks it’s a great idea,” Jones said. “They just don’t know how all the pieces come together.”
Some early discussions have included first transporting water first to Durant, from Durant to Kingston, then to Ardmore; from Ardmore to Lake Waurika and then to Tom Steed Reservoir, Jones
said. The project would stretch some 230 miles if it reaches Tom Steed, he added.
According to municipal meeting agendas, those conversations are well underway. A memorandum of understanding to begin discussions with Hugo and Cody Pipelines appeared on the Oct. 1 agenda for the Altus Municipal Authority.
Hugo News reported last week that its city officials had been in discussion with Cody Pipeline “in recent weeks.” The memorandum will be discussed during the Hugo Municipal Authority’s Dec. 17 meeting, the paper reported.
The company has also been in talks with the City of Tuttle
regarding a water line to connect from Oklahoma City ,according to minutes from the Aug. 21 meeting of the Grady McClain Mutual Utility Trust Authority. Minutes also show the authority discussed Cody Pipeline’s plan to tap water from Hugo Lake. Hugo and Tuttle city officials did not return a request for comment.
Talk of moving water from east to west harkens back 50 years or more, and plans to do so would mean facing numerous obstacles, said Robby Short, Oklahoma Water Resources Boards spokesperson. The board oversees water resource planning and
development for the state.
In the past, the most significant impediment to such a project has been the cost. Short said because he was not part of ongoing discussions for the concept he could not speculate about a cost
range. He also said he was unaware of any federal grants that would “cover enough of the cost to make it feasible.”
Another challenge to the project is the complexity of each city’s agreement to allow construction and purchase or sell water.
“Every city is going to have their own issues,” Short said.
Oklahoma City’s plan to build a 100 mile, 72 inch pipeline from Atoka to Lake Stanley Draper is estimated to cost $1 billion, including easements and engineering costs, Jasmine Morris, spokesperson for the city, told Southwest Ledger last week. The project is forecasted to be complete by December 2028.
Herrell said it’s too early to forecast cost for the southern water line concept, but also said it likely doesn’t “make sense to build a billion-dollar pipeline.”
“We’re going to look at every possible idea, [every] partnership that we can to get this cost so that it makes sense to put that infrastructure in and it doesn’t cost consumers more than what they’re paying now,” Herell said.
Technology advancements in the last 10 years––from materials
to data system management and water treatment––make the
project more feasible, he said. Among other cost saving strategies, the company also intends to seek federal grants, large or small, and negotiate partnerships with materials manufacturers to offset the cost, Herell said.
Who is CPP? Cody Pipeline is composed of oil and gas executives with more than 50 years of collective experience, Herell said. The team also has 12 years’ experience with water infrastructure.
“We’ve had backgrounds with very large companies like Exxon,
Williams Companies, BP, Select Water Solutions, a water management company,” Herell said. “We understand the critical nature of moving a product and have the ability to put in the right processes, hire the right companies, have the right oversight to put in a system that is above and beyond first class.”
Although based in Texas, the company has focused much of its future plans in Oklahoma due to the need for more water infrastructure in the southern region and because it’s a “friendly state” to business, Herell said.