A House Committee approved a bill this week calling for the installation of meters on water wells in the state of Oklahoma.
Rep. Carl Newton (R-Cherokee) proposed HB1807 “to encourage groundwater conservation,” as worries grow about the falling levels of the Ogallala Aquifer due to irrigation wells on farms. But he also emphasized during hearing, “This does not, this does not regulate or touch domestic water use.”
The House Energy and Natural Resources Oversight Committee voted 10-2 on Monday in support of the measure to “require all permit holders authorized to take and use groundwater to implement a system of measuring groundwater usage from all wells associated with the permit.”
Two Representatives, Jim Grego and Rick West voted against the measure while it was supported by Reps. Nick Archer, Brad Boles, Mark Chapman, Rusty cornwell, Jared Deck, Mike Dobrinski, Mickey Dollens, John George, Kenton Patzkowsky and Ajay Pittman.
Under the bill, the Oklahoma Water Resources Board would be authorized to enforce the measure which would not apply to residential wells.
A House Fiscal Analysis indicated the OWRB would need an additional full time employee to carry out the measure should it become law. It would also involve a recurring fiscal impact of $125,000 a year for the accounting and oversight.
The Water Resources Board also estimated it would cost another $200,000 in one-time costs to use an IT contractor to develop, update and ensure cross-compatibility between programs related to the provisions of the measure.