ALTUS – The primary source of water for Altus is a 23-mile-long, 36-inch diameter pipeline from Tom Steed Reservoir operated by the Mountain Park Master Conservancy District. Altus has a permit to withdraw 11,200 acre-feet (3.65 billion gallons per year) of raw water from the lake, according to Manager Will Archer.
ALTUS – The primary source of water for Altus is a 23-mile-long, 36-inch diameter pipeline from Tom Steed Reservoir operated by the Mountain Park Master Conservancy District. Altus has a permit to withdraw 11,200 acre-feet (3.65 billion gallons per year) of raw water from the lake, according to Manager Will Archer.
[Tom Steed Lake, a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation reservoir that encompasses 6,400 surface acres in Kiowa County, also provides 850 acre-feet of water (almost 277 million gallons/ year) to Snyder; 1,568 acre-feet of water (nearly 511 million gallons/year) to Frederick; and 2,352 acre-feet of water (766 million gallons/year) to the 7,120-acre Hackberry Flat wetland and wildlife management area in Tillman County, Archer said.]
When a prolonged drought (2011-15) plagued Southwest Oklahoma, Altus opted to reopen a dormant water well field in Wilbarger County in north Texas to provide a supplemental source of drinking water. Altus operated those wells for about 30 years but shut them down in the mid-1990s because of increasing maintenance costs. Seven of the 18 wells were rehabilitated and placed back into service in early 2016, according to the city’s website.
Raw water from the Texas well field is transported to the Altus water treatment plant via an 18-inch-diameter line, records indicate.
Having multiple sources of water enables the city to toggle between surface water and groundwater when necessary.
CITY LAKE DUE IMPROVEMENTS
Altus city officials plan to improve municipal water security by using Altus City Reservoir on the north side of town as an emergency backup source of drinking water in the event of another severe drought. Acting Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) said the city intends to lay a water line from the municipal water treatment plant to the 140-acre city reservoir, which was constructed in 1910. Jones said that line will pump fresh water into, and circulate it throughout, the local reservoir.
City officials also are gauging public sentiment about making the city reservoir more “community-friendly” by developing recreational amenities such as walking trails, picnic areas, a splash pad for children, kayaking and paddleboats.
LOANS FINANCE LINES
The City of Altus has two loans from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) that have an outstanding principal balance of $8,925,436, according to Joe Freeman, chief of the OWRB’s Financial Assistance Division.
In 2015 the OWRB lent Altus $2.3 million and approved a companion $575,000 Emergency Drought Response grant; the loan is to be retired over a 20-year period at an interest rate of 2.31% plus a 0.5% administrative fee, OWRB ledgers reflect. The loan and grant were earmarked for two projects.
One project involved the installation of new water lines in the city’s distribution system to loop existing dead-end lines in order to increase the capacity of the water distribution system and to reduce trihalomethanes (byproducts of chlorine disinfection of raw water), thereby improving the overall quality of water in the system.
The rest of the funds were dedicated to the construction of approximately two miles of 12-inch-diameter waterline parallel to the 18-inch line from the Texas well field. The new section of line replaced the 18-inch line for supplying water to the Creta Rural Water System, to the Town of Olustee and to other water users south and west of Altus.