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City of Bartlesville
Posted: Aug 30, 2023 9:27 PMUpdated: Aug 31, 2023 1:56 PM
Committee Explores Water Supply Issues
Nathan Thompson
The re-established Bartlesville Water Resources Committee held their first meeting in almost nine years on Wednesday to restart discussions over solving water supply concerns for the future.
City of Bartlesville Water Utilities Director Terry Lauritsen spend the majority of the two-hour-long meeting presenting the history of Bartlesville's water concerns and options that could be explored for the future. He reminded the committee that not only does the water system supply clean water for Bartlesville, but also Dewey, Ochelata and six rural water districts, covering approximately 55,000 people in the service region.
Lauritsen says recent drought conditions, the lower capacity of the city's four water sources and projected population growth other options must be explored.
Lauritsen says dredging Hulah Lake to get rid of that sedimentation brings multiple cost and environmental barriers that could make Hulah water unusable for human consumption for years to come.
The committee was presented with several options to consider - including purchasing water from other municipalities, building a new city-owned lake in Osage County, tapping into an unexplored aquifer, negotiating with the Corps of Engineers to change the flood pool levels of usable water at Copan and Hulah, or to build pipelines to other reservoirs like Kaw Lake, Skiatook Lake and Birch Lake.
Each option ranges in cost in the multiple millions of dollars. The committee will continue to study the options and will make a recommendation to City Council at a future meeting, a process that could take several months.
Below is a listing of the water source options under consideration and their projected costs
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