Oklahoma board OKs unpermitted dam. Property owner offers his own solution.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Residents of a drying up waterfront community expressed outrage Tuesday after a state agency allowed an unpermitted dam to remain upstream of their lake.

After the meeting, one of the dam’s owners, former state Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee, offered the residents $100,000 if they could raise $300,000 for seed money to form a rural water district. They’d also have to agree not to sue him. 

The Oklahoma Water Resources Board approved a consent order with Coffee to allow the dams to continue holding water that Cedar Lake residents say used to fill their lake. State law allows a dam owner to seek a permit after construction.

Residents of the nearly 400-person lakefront community, located about 45 miles west of Oklahoma City,  blame the dams for the low lake level that has caused boat docks to become grounded, water wells to go dry and lower property values.

A report from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board blames the deterioration on a drop in aquifer levels related to homeowners’ domestic wells. 

Coffee, who serves as the Senate Republican Caucus senior legal consultant and is a former Oklahoma Secretary of State, said Tuesday that he blames the water drop on drought. An independent hydrologist report disagreed, saying the dams are a significant factor.

Residents packed the auditorium at the Oklahoma Judicial Center where the meeting was moved from its regular location at the Oklahoma Water Resources Board offices in Oklahoma City. Members of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol were on hand to provide security.

Residents were told in advance that they had no business before the board and would not be allowed to speak.

But once the meeting began, one resident attempted to have the agenda item pulled out and heard separately from other items, but he was not heard or recognized. The board’s agreement with Coffee was considered as part of a consent agenda, where multiple issues are taken up at the same time without any discussion.

“You guys have failed us,” one member of the audience yelled after the board declined to reconsider the vote.

“Whose money lines your pocket?” yelled another.

Residents want the dams removed on the Coffee family property or they want the family to release the water they say has been permitted to them for the lake.

“All Oklahomans lose today because anybody that wants to deprive their neighbors of water is free to do it, as long as people in that room are complicit in helping the rich and powerful do it,” said Mark Sullivan after the vote. He owns property at Cedar Lake, which is in Canadian County.

“This isn’t the end,” he said. “I mean, goodness gracious, a wrongdoing of this magnitude cannot be, you know, just passed over with a vote that says, ‘OK, hey, you get away with it today.’”

Some residents believe Coffee’s political status factored into the board’s decision.

In a statement after the meeting, the Oklahoma Water Resources Board said it is limited to ensuring the dam meets the safety criteria established in state law.

At its July board meeting, the Oklahoma Water Resources Board tabled action on the consent order until Tuesday.

Coffee waited until after the water board approved the consent order to announce his offer.

“Cedar Lake has an infrastructure problem,” Coffee said. “The problem is bigger than the dams.”

If the residents were to form a rural water district, they would be able to apply for grants, loans and other forms of assistance to solve long-term water problems, Coffee said.

Coffee said if he were to release water, it would only raise the Cedar Lake level one or two inches for a short period of time, something some residents dispute.

Coffee said he and his brothers own the property, which his father manages.

“We have a large family that uses it for recreation purposes, but it’s there primarily for watering the cattle and other purposes,” Coffee said.

Coffee said he wanted to turn the page and create solutions.

“I think if they are willing to come to the table with my family, lots of options are on the table, and I am not going to speculate on what those are,” Coffee said.

When told of Coffee’s offer Tuesday afternoon, Sullivan said it was “interesting,’’ adding that the offer was a wise decision.

He said homeowners would consider it.