TEMPLE – This Cotton County community made it official last week when the town received a state permit to withdraw water from Temple Lake.
The 36-acre reservoir is about 4 minutes west of town and was created several years ago by impounding a Cache Creek tributary. “It’s our backup water source,” long-time Public Works Director Billy Bruce said. However, until March 18 Temple didn’t have a permit to take water from the lake.
The Oklahoma Water Resources Board authorized the Town of Temple to take 32 acre-feet of water – 10.4 million gallons – from Temple Lake each year. That would furnish only about one-third of the town’s annual usage at a minimum level of consumption. Temple’s water treatment plant is close by the local lake.
Temple has a population of approximately 825 residents, according to census data.
The town’s primary source of water is Waurika Lake, which also serves Lawton, Duncan, Comanche and Walters.
The level of turbidity (a measure of water clarity) in Waurika Lake is better than Temple Lake, Bruce said. But when the Waurika water line breaks, “We temporarily need an alternate source of water,” he noted.
Temple also buys water from a Cotton County rural water district, “but only during certain months of the year and in an emergency,” Bruce said.