After recent droughts and concerns about dwindling groundwater, Oklahoma lawmakers are trying for a second year to require commercial users to more accurately track water usage. 

State laws on metering water wells vary. In Oklahoma, owners of commercial groundwater wells can estimate and then self-report how much water they use to the Oklahoma Water Resources Board. 

Many permit holders report that they use exactly how much water their permit allows, and a significant portion don’t report at all, Water Resources Board Director Julie Cunningham told state lawmakers at an interim study in October. 

Nearly 75% of permitted groundwater use in Oklahoma is for irrigation, according to data from the Water Resources Board. Over 11,000 permits allow each year for more than 4 million acre feet of water — the amount of water it would take to cover an acre of land with a foot of water —  to be drawn up from aquifers around the state for agriculture, industrial and municipal use. 

As water levels fluctuate with periodic droughts, the number of wells increase and reports of declining groundwater levels in certain parts of the state become more frequent, state officials are paying more attention to usage and how much water is drawn from aquifers. 

But without accurate data on exactly how much water is being used, it’s difficult to plan for the future, said Sen. Brent Howard, R-Altus, who authored Senate Bill 259. Current state water law manages aquifers based on their water eventually being used up. That’s not sustainable for local economies, Howard said. One expert said sustainable management could mean limiting water usage so that aquifers can recharge. 

“I’m trying to find the best information and the best way to move forward,” Howard said. 

Howard’s bill would require all permit holders, except residential users, to have meters or an alternative measuring system to track usage and report those numbers to the state. The Water Resources Board would use the data to write an annual groundwater usage report. Rep. Carl Newton, R-Cherokee, is also running a bill to require groundwater well metering.

Howard and Newton worked on a similar bill last year that passed out of the Legislature, but Gov. Kevin Sitt vetoed it, calling it “government overreach at its finest.” Stitt said requiring landowners to install meters would violate their rights. Groundwater in Oklahoma is a private property right, and meters can cost thousands of dollars.

Howard’s new bill would also task the Water Resources Board with modernizing its data systems and clarifies that the agency can use penalties and fines against those who don’t use or report their permitted water correctly. Before last year, Oklahoma had never fined a permit holder for overusing water, and the agency had a “shoestring budget” for enforcement, Howard said. 

The agency requested an additional $1.7 million from the Legislature for water rights administration this year, said Chris Neel, water rights administration division chief with the Water Resources Board. Some of that will be used for better compliance monitoring. 

Oklahoma has always had hands-off programming for its water, Water Board Director Cunningham said at a recent budget hearing. But that is starting to shift in Oklahoma and other western states. 

“We’re seeing more time and effort spent on these programs because there is less water and more demand going forward,” she said. “And I certainly don’t see that changing any time soon.” 

Water from aquifers can be one of the only sources for irrigated agriculture in some parts of the state. The Ogallala Aquifer provides all the local water for irrigated agriculture in Texas County in the Oklahoma Panhandle, according to one 2024 report. The water allows Texas County to be the largest agricultural producing county in the state, representing over $1 billion in annual sales. But most of the aquifer, which sits under several great plains states, is declining as people use the water faster than it can recharge. 

Most aquifers in Oklahoma are not seeing serious declines, Neel said. But in places with a high concentration of wells, there can be localized water level drops. 

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The demand for water today makes it difficult to balance sustainability for the future, said Duane Smith, director of the Oklahoma Water Institute at East Central University. 

“I think most people want it to be sustainable,” Smith said. “How do you reconcile that with the investments that have been made, the land that’s been purchased, people having to make a living on that land? … It becomes very difficult.” 

Local agricultural producers told lawmakers during the October hearing that they want to conserve water without additional oversight from the government. Instead of having to pay to install new meters for water monitoring, irrigators could focus on new conservation methods, form local control districts and remove invasive eastern redcedar trees, which can consume several gallons of water a day per tree.

“We’re pretty fearful of the cost benefit that a lot of these proposed regulations could have,” said Matt Steinert, an irrigator from Garfield County. “Metering, audits, oversight — none of that is going to create another ounce of water for anyone.”

Senate Bill 259 is awaiting a committee hearing. But metering is just one water issue lawmakers are discussing this year. Howard has another bill that would create new regional water districts based in part on which aquifer the district draws water from. A bill by Sen. George Burns, R-Pollard, would put a moratorium on issuing any new groundwater permits for things other than domestic use until the Water Resources Board could study each groundwater basin.

Newton has also authored a bill this year that would create a training program for well drillers and pump installers to address workforce shortages to stop “critical threats from depletion and contamination due to unqualified workers and improper water access practices.”