Rob:  Well, the fight over water is neither new, nor unique to Oklahoma.  We’ve watched as much of the western United States, as well as other parts of the world, deal with dwindling water supplies.  And while Oklahoma is blessed with lots of water in much of the state, such abundance does lead to its own set of problems.  In 2003, state lawmakers issued a pumping moratorium on the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer that covers about 500 square miles in south central Oklahoma, all in a response to a legal fight over who owns the water.  Our Keith Smith is here to tell us how the end of a five-year study could be just the beginning of Oklahoma’s water future.
Keith:  Rob, that’s right, this all started from a plan to pump out what would be billions of gallons of water to central Oklahoma.  The state senate passed a moratorium on selling water from the aquifer in 2003 until they could find out more.  We now know a lot more.  What we don’t know is exactly what’s going to happen.
Keith:  If you want to know more about where the town of Tishomingo gets its water from, you’ll want to talk a local like John Bruno.
John Bruno:  There’s over a hundred springs that come out of the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer.  All those springs run into little streams, which run into bigger streams, which run into creeks, which run into rivers.
Keith:  Nearly 40,000 people in the area depend on the aquifer for drinking water, water that they believed could have been in jeopardy.
Bruno:  You don’t recognize the value of water, until you don’t have it, or you’re threatened with losing it.  And I think that’s what people thought was, gosh we’re going to lose some of these beautiful resources we have around here.
Keith:  The state began studying the aquifer to see how much water could be taken out without nearby towns finding a trickle.
Duane Smith:  When cities grow, attract industry, one of the key components of that is to have a reliable water supply.
Keith:  Oklahoma Water Resources Board executive director, Duane Smith, says we’ll always be talking about water.
Smith:  It’s always an issue.  When you look at the hundred year hydrograph of water in Oklahoma.  We’ve had periods of drought, periods of flood.
Amy Ford:  Nobody wants this to dry up.
Keith:  Amy Ford has helped lead a grassroots movement aimed at protecting the aquifer.
Amy Ford:  It’s not an “I” issue.  It’s a state issue.  It’s a “WE” issue.  And WE need to make sure that WE have enough water for the entire state.
Noel Osborn:  We’ve been working together to find the information needed to give the Water Board.
Keith:  Geologist, Noel Osborn, may know more about the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer than anyone has ever known before.
Osborn:  We’ve had a multidisciplinary team full of geologists and geophysicists, and biologists and sociologists, meteorologists.  You name it, they’re on this team. 
Keith:  A lot of work above, and below ground.
Osborn:  If we put this many wells in this location, what’s the impact going to be?
Keith:  They found that to keep the water flowing for future generations, more would have to be done to use less.
Osborn:  We know that the storage of this aquifer is very, very small.  And that means that there’s not a whole lot of water to be withdrawn from it, especially if you’re looking at the impact on surface water.
Keith:  With the new understanding, comes a responsibility.
Osborn:  If we pump a lot of water out of the aquifer, every drop of water pumped out of that aquifer is water that will not come out through the streams and springs.
Bruno:  It makes you really feel alive and appreciate the quality of the experience that we do have, that nothing’s artificial.  We didn’t create this river.  It’s been here long before us, and hopefully will be here long after us.
Ford:  I mean that’s why we’ve worked so hard to protect it, is so that it’s here forever; it’s here for our kids and our grandkids, and you know.  It’s here forever.
Keith:  They are the kind of decisions that have to be made ahead of time.
Smith:  They’re going to be tough decisions.  You know, it’s urban versus rural.  It’s East versus West.  You know, we’ve got all of those things.  And what we have to be able to accomplish as a state is to put all of those people, as Robby Robin said, one of our pioneers, all of those people pulling the same way on the wagon.  If we do that, then we’re going to have a very optimistic future.  If we don’t, we’re going to tear the wagon apart.
Osborn:  The science is there.  We have a sound, defensible model that we can use, and we can simulate various options, and we can answer questions to help us get to that final answer.
Keith:  An answer that will keep the water flowing for future generations.