 Oklahoma River, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Save the date! Round 4 Regional Meetings are happening in October. More information is below.
The Oklahoma Water Resources Board is pleased to announce the fourth in a series of stakeholder input meetings, in locations across the state, focused on the 2025 update of the OCWP. While anyone may attend, we request participation from local officials, water utility suppliers, regulated industry, commercial agricultural producers, economic development entities, and representing organizations.
Round 4 will get feedback from participants on:
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Potential water management strategies to address local water challenges
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Preview policy ideas that have been collected throughout the engagement process.
Round 4 meetings will be held on the following dates and locations.
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October 24, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. | NE – Rogers State University – Dr. Carolyn Taylor Center, 1701 W. Will Rogers Blvd., Claremore, OK | Middle Arkansas, Grand, Eufaula, and Lower Arkansas OCWP Planning Regions
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October 25, 9:00 a.m. – Noon | Central – Department of Public Safety Training Center, 3600 N. MLK Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK | Upper Arkansas and Central OCWP Planning Regions
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October 28, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. | NW – High Plains Technology Center, 3921 34th St., Woodward, OK | Panhandle OCWP Planning Region
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October 29, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. | SW – Quartz Mountain State Park Lodge, 22469 Lodge Rd., Lone Wolf, OK | West Central, Southwest, Beaver-Cache, and Lower Washita OCWP Planning Regions
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October 30, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. | SE – Massey Building, 200 West Main Street, Durant, OK | Blue-Boggy and Southeast OCWP Planning Regions
Missed the previous meetings or just want to refresh your memory? Summaries of meetings are on OWRB’s water planning webpage under Public Meetings link.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced the following funding opportunities.
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WaterSMART for Small Scale Water Efficiency Projects – Eligible projects include canal lining/piping, municipal metering, irrigation flow measurement, SCADA, landscape irrigation measures, high-efficiency indoor appliances and fixtures, and commercial cooling systems. Maximum award amount of $100,000. Application period 3 deadline is January 14, 2025, and Application period 4 deadline is July 8, 2025. This notice of funding opportunity announcement is available at www.grants.gov by searching for funding opportunity R24AS00059 or by clicking here.
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WaterSMART for Water and Energy Efficiency – Projects should conserve and use water more efficiently (e.g., flow measurement, metering, delivery improvements, canal lining, etc.); increase production of renewable energy (e.g., hydropower, solar, wind energy, etc.); mitigate risks of water conflict; and/or accomplish other benefits that contribute to water supply reliability in the western United States. More details on eligible projects are outlined in Section C.4. of the funding opportunity. The second application period closes on October 30, 5:00 pm. This notice of funding opportunity announcement is available at grants.gov by searching for funding opportunity number R24AS00052 or by clicking here. Learn more about the Water and Energy Efficiency Grants by clicking here.
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Title XVI WIIN Act Water Reclamation and Reuse Projects – Eligible activities include planning, design, and construction of water reclamation and reuse facilities. The funding opportunity announcement R23AS00464 is available by clicking here. Applications are due September 30, 2024 at 5:00 p.m.
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Desalination Construction Projects Under the WIIN Act – Eligible activities include planning, design, and construction of facilities to desalinate seawater or brackish surface water or groundwater. The funding opportunity announcement R23AS00465 is available by clicking here. Applications are due September 30, 2024 at 5:00 p.m.
Drought Resiliency Projects for Fiscal Year 2025 – Eligible activities include developing and/or updating comprehensive drought plans, and implementation of projects that build long-term resiliency to drought. For more information, please navigate to the funding opportunity announcement R25AS00013, which available by clicking here. Applications are due on October 7, 2024 at 5 p.m.
- October 13-15, 2024 – The Southwest Section of the American Water Works Association (SWAWWA) will be hosting their annual conference this coming October. This year the conference is being held in Norman, OK at the Embassy Suites, 2501 Conference Drive. Attendees can register at the conference or online in advance. Owen Mills, John Rehring, and Amber Wooten of the OCWP Team will be there to provide an OCWP update on Monday, October 14th at 3:45 pm.
- November 19-20, 2024 – OWRB and the Oklahoma Water Resources Center will co-host the Governor’s Water Conference in Norman, OK at the Embassy Suites, 2501 Conference Drive. At the conference, 2024 winners of the Water for 2060 awards will be announced. Click here to submit a nomination before September 30th at 5:00 p.m. You can learn more about the conference and register online.
As drought becomes more prevalent and severe across the globe, ecosystems are experiencing significant and permanent changes. Ecosystem transformation is not exclusive to those ecosystem types that were previously shown to be most at risk like arid or forest ecosystems. Rather, evidence has shown drought to impact at least a dozen ecosystem types. With changing drought patterns, many ecosystems are showing more extreme responses to drought and less resiliency to recover. Due to this unpredictability, the best path forward for managing drought and its repercussions might be preparing for a range of potential outcomes. Learn more about how droughts are impacting transforming ecosystems in the 21st Century by clicking here.
Reservoirs in the United States are also facing permanent change. Simeone et al. (2024) recently studied water levels of 250 large reservoirs from 1981-2020 by comparing data to water management practices and climate. Overall, it was determined that climate variability and increased sediment is driving an overall decrease in water levels and increased variability in water storage volume. With this insight, water managers can work to change their practices to adapt to changing conditions in hopes to mitigate stress on critical water supplies.
 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) along with several other federal agencies and water industry representatives recently released the Interagency Water Workforce Working Group Report to Congress. This document highlights the critical water workforce gaps, identifies new federal initiatives and partnerships to support workforce development including training and upskilling. Locally, OWRB is working with state agencies, water professional groups, and utilities as part of the water workforce steering committee to identify workforce initiatives to implement in Oklahoma. We will share more about these activities in the coming months.
We look forward to more great discussions with you at the upcoming Round 4 Regional Meetings in October!
Best regards,
Owen Mills
Director of Water Planning
Oklahoma Water Resources Board
405.530.8904 Office | 405.421.4127 Cell
Owen.mills@owrb.ok.gov |
