Oklahoma Administrative Code
Title 785 - Oklahoma Water Resources Board
Chapter 20 - Appropriation and Use of Stream Water
Subchapter 5 - Notice, Hearings and Board Actions
Section 785:20-5-5 - Factors relating to statutory elements for application approval
Universal Citation: OK Admin Code 785:20-5-5
Current through Vol. 42, No. 1, September 16, 2024
(a) Determination of water available for appropriation from a stream.
(1)
For direct diversions from a stream, the determination of water available for
appropriation shall take into consideration the mean annual precipitation
run-off in the watershed above the point(s) of diversion, the mean annual flow,
stream gauge measurements, domestic uses and all existing appropriations and
other designated purposes in the stream system. The Board may consider other
evidence or laws relating to stream flow or elevation, including but not
limited to apportionment provisions of interstate stream compacts to which the
State of Oklahoma is a party and the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Act.
(2) Absent the presentation of more accurate
evidence to the contrary, the Board shall estimate the amount of water required
to satisfy domestic use to be six (6) acre-feet per household per year or three
(3) acre-feet per non-household domestic use.
(b) Determination of water available for appropriation from a reservoir, lake or pond.
(1) The amount of water available for
appropriation from a lake or reservoir shall be based on a ninety-eight percent
(98%) dependable yield of the reservoir for municipal and industrial use and an
eighty percent (80%) dependable yield of the reservoir for irrigation use. The
Board may consider other dependable yields of reservoirs, considering the type
of use proposed, interconnections with other reservoirs and other factors
deemed relevant by the Board.
(2)
The amount of water available from a Natural Resources Conservation Service
flood detention structure shall be based on the designated sediment pool amount
as specified in
785:20-11-1.
For impoundments other than Natural Resources Conservation Service flood
detention structures, the Board shall determine the amount of water available
for appropriation by estimating the yield based on the storage capacity,
evaporation amounts and other factors deemed appropriate by the
Board.
(3) If an application is
made to appropriate water from water supply storage at Sardis Reservoir, an
amount of 20,000 acre-feet of water shall not be considered available for
appropriation unless the applicant's use is within one or more of the 10 county
area of southeastern Oklahoma. The 10 counties include LeFlore, McCurtain,
Pushmataha, Latimer, Haskell, Choctaw, Pittsburg, Coal, Atoka, and Bryan. The
following conditions apply to this paragraph:
(i) Appropriations shall be granted first
from the remainder of the yield of Sardis Reservoir; and
(ii) Water appropriated from the 20,000
acre-feet amount cannot be used as a substitute for water which is used out of
southeastern Oklahoma; and
(iii) If
the applicant's proposed use from the 20,000 acre-feet amount is for municipal
or rural water district use, the service area must be within southeastern
Oklahoma, and if the use from the 20,00 acre-feet is for industrial,
commercial, irrigation or power use, the primary processes for such use must
occur within southeastern Oklahoma; and
(iv) No water shall be released or withdrawn
from water supply storage in Sardis Reservoir unless a lake level management
plan for the applicant's use has been reviewed by the Oklahoma Department of
Wildlife Conservation and is approved by the Board, provided that an approved
lake level management plan shall have an emergency clause for domestic
use.
(c) Present or future need.
(1) In
considering the amount of water requested, the Board may review the efficiency
of the works proposed to place the water to beneficial use and may order
modifications to such works or that different works be utilized.
(2) For a proposed public water supply or
municipal use, the Board may review population projections for the area served
or proposed to be served by the applicant.
(3) For a proposed irrigation use, the amount
of water needed shall be based on the types of crops to be grown and the number
of irrigable acres, as indicated by the "Technical Report on Irrigation Water
Requirements State of Oklahoma," U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of
Reclamation, Southwest Region, Amarillo, Texas, September 1986. Other
appropriate publications may be utilized to calculate water demand for crops,
and the applicant may submit additional information for consideration as to the
amount of water needed. If more than one crop is to be irrigated, present and
future need may be based on the crop which has the greatest irrigation water
requirements during a dry year.
(d) Determination of interference with domestic and existing appropriative uses.
(1) For purposes of determination of
interference with domestic uses of stream water, interference with domestic use
of groundwater will not be considered.
(2) The Board may determine that conditions
or restrictions are necessary to protect existing beneficial uses and rights
and may establish and impose such conditions on certain stream flow whereby
direct diversion may be allowed only during certain times of the year or when a
certain level of stream flow or elevation in the stream is reached. In some
cases, the Board may determine that water storage is necessary.
(3) If the Board determines water to be
available for appropriation pursuant to 785:20-5-5(a) and (b) and the applicant
agrees to the placement of a condition(s) on the permit that the proposed use
will not interfere with domestic or existing appropriative uses and/or
conditions or restrictions pursuant to 785:20-5-5(d)(2), it shall be a
presumption that interference will not occur.
(e) Additional factors to be determined for scenic rivers and outstanding resource waters. If the application is to divert water from a definite stream which has been designated as a "scenic river area" under the Scenic Rivers Act, 82 O.S. 1991, §1451 et seq., or a stream designated as Outstanding Resource Waters under Chapter 45 of this Title, the Board shall consider, in addition to the guidelines set forth in (a), (b), (c) and (d) of this Section, the following factors insofar as sufficient information is readily available to assure that appropriate instream flows are protected:
(1) Quantity of water
requested in comparison to the amount of water available for appropriation
based on mean annual precipitation run-off produced within the drainage area of
the watershed above the proposed point of diversion;
(2) Quantity of flow needed in cubic feet per
second (cfs) for recreational purposes, including sustaining existing fish
species in the stream, spawning periods for such species, etc., provided that
for sustaining existing fish species in the Barren Fork Creek, and unless
information to the contrary is shown, a flow restriction of 50 cfs will be
considered as needed;
(3) Existing
water quality in the stream and the potential of the diversion to alter the
water quality or physical characteristics of the stream; and
(4) Other information as deemed relevant by
the Board.
Amended at 11 Ok Reg 2917, eff 6-13-94; Amended at 12 Ok Reg 2671, eff 7-1-95; Amended at 13 Ok Reg 2853, eff 7-1-96; Amended at 14 Ok Reg 2750, eff 7-1-97; Amended at 15 Ok Reg 2435, eff 6-11-98; Amended at 16 Ok Reg 2682, eff 7-1-99; Amended at 20 Ok Reg 2604, eff 7-11-03
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Oklahoma may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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