SPAVINAW — A state lawmaker has asked Tulsa to discontinue plans to fence sections of its waterline from Spavinaw Lake.
Advertisement
Rep. Doug Cox, R-Grove, made his pleas this week in letters to city councilors and to the city's deputy director for environmental operations. Friday, Cox visited several Spavinaw-area residents whose Mayes County land will be affected by the construction of the fences.
About half of the city of Tulsa's drinking water flows through a roughly 53-mile pipe from Spavinaw Lake. Primarily unfenced, the original waterline was completed in 1924.Cox said erecting a flowline fence will devalue properties adjacent to it and create a hardship for landowners with livestock.
In particular, he said, it will handicap landowners who have two Tulsa flowlines dissecting their property.
"Tulsa has every legal right to do this, but that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do,” Cox said Tuesday.
But Tulsa officials said they have fenced parts of the Spavinaw flowline for years and that recent attempts are merely to protect city property.
Bob Brownwood, the city's water supply manager, said the city has documented 84 known encroachments on city property from Tulsa to Spavinaw. They include the stacking of hay, building of structures, movement of heavy machinery and the grazing of livestock, he said.
