what's up everybody Welcome to on West Gray the monthly podcast about all things local government in the city of Norman I'm your host Tiffany Vera Chief Communications officer for the city of Norman and we appreciate you joining us today in the studio we have with us Kyle Arthur of the central Oklahoma Master Conservancy District John Harrington of the association of Central Oklahoma governments and our very own Nathan madenwald city of Norman Utilities engineer they've joined us to discuss the status and future of water and Norman to include a lake longevity and our aquafer gentlemen welcome to the show thank you absolutely good morning we're so happy to have you so as part of aim Norman or our area and infrastructure master plan which is currently underway and is comprised of strategic updates to plans for both Water and Wastewater in Norman we've been discussing natural resources even more often than we usually do around here we'd really like to give listeners an overview of what our water supply looks like at this time and what we foresee in the future when it comes to water in the community so first could each of you give a brief introduction about who you are your field of expertise or the type of business that you oversee at your agencies each day John can we start with you sure um my name is John Herrington I work for the association of central Coloma governments and the Garber Wellington Association uh basically it was an organization formed under ACOG specifically to uh generate information and uh explore the Garber Wellington aquifer which I've been doing for 35 years something like that uh so my I'm a geologist and I my field of expertise is geology and geophysics wonderful Kyle yeah my name is Kyle Arthur I'm the general manager at the central Oklahoma Master Conservancy District which is out at Lake Thunderbird the district was formed in 1959 um through statutory Authority in title 82 of the Oklahoma uh State statutes which deals with water and water rights um the the district uh provides raw water supply from Lake Thunderbird and has since about 1965 when the lake was finished to the cities of Norman Midwest City and Dell City all right thank you Sarah and Nathan yes uh Nathan mwald utilities engineer city of Norman and my job is to plan and manage capital projects for our utilities department focused on water Wastewater and solid waste so you collaborate or communicate often with these other gentlemen right very regularly all right so Kyle and we'll kick off the questions with you can you speak to us about the longevity of Lake Thunderbird our large largest source of drinking water here in Norman at this time sure I'd be happy to um so two things I commonly hear um from the public um whether it's casual conversation or public meetings or presentations about Lake Thunderbird and its role as a public water supply is that it's sedimenting in typically characterized as at an alarming rate um and that it has a very short life span and we're coming up on that lifespan and so I want to think a little bit about those two questions certainly there's some truth there for sure but some context uh and some additional information I think is important to understand um those issues as it relates to Lake Thunderbird and in particular Norman's future water supply to do that I'm going to talk a little bit about the characteristics of a reservoir and so we we often see a reservoir or Lake Thunderbird in this okay sort of from the top but let's turn it on its side and look at it from a side profile and you can sort of uh stratify or or divide uh any Reservoir frankly like Thunderbird included into different layers and moving from the top to the bottom we have What's called the Deadpool storage which is the very uh bottom uh segment of of the lake uh and the terms that are often used are what I just said po pool or storage are are names broadly that are given to those levels so at the bottom as I said you have the Deadpool storage and then as you move up from that usually the biggest part of a reservoir is What's called the conservation storage pool which is kind of where the fun happens that's where the public water supply comes from that's where fish and wildlife propagate uh that's where people recreate whether it be boat or fish or whatever the case may be and then the topmost layer is called uh uh the flood pool storage so that's where flood waters are stored when we have rain events just like we did last night and have over the last week or so there can be other um storage pools in reservoirs you could have a storage pool to produce hydroelectric power we do not at Lake Thunderbird you could have a storage pool that has releases Downstream to float boats for navigation right we do not have that at Lake Thunderbird normally what we have are the normal three um levels so when reservoirs are constructed there is that bottom layer that is contemplated to store sediment that comes into the lake over time and so they design the reservoir in a manner so as to absorb or take in and store at that very lowest level below where we can intake water by the way to provide to to Norman Midwest City and Dell City they have a Zone down there that they designed back in the in the late 50s and early 1960s to absorb that sediment and so we've been depositing sediment over time uh into that pool or into that level and in fact recent Studies have shown that we actually u sedimenting in that that pool storage area that dead pool storage area at a slower rate than was originally planned and calculated so that's good news for sure but the more important point of the matter is where we get our water supply where Norman gets it Midwest City and Dale City get it are not is not from the Deadpool storage area right so as that fills up what it's doing now it's not affecting uh our our water supply so the calculation that was done um looked at a hundred-year uh life of the reservoir in terms of filling up that Deadpool storage so the the the the the the calculation was was targeted toward saying 100 years from now right from 1965 that we want to say the Deadpool storage is now full all right and only once it gets past Deadpool Storage level will it start to affect conservation Storage level and that's where we get uh our water supply so right now the sediment that's going in is going into its own little storage area where it was designed to go and not affecting the volume of water now will it eventually fill the Deadpool storage and start to to eat into for lack of a better term our conservation storage where we get our water supply yes it will um uh but it is sedimenting in at a at a slower uh slower rate so that that is particularly good news it's important to understand too that we have a permit the district does from the okl Water Resources board to deliver 21,600 acre feet of water per year that's a little over 7 billion gallons of water that the district has a right from the Water Resources board to deliver we don't deliver quite that much Norman takes her full allocation the other two cities do not but in any in any given year there is far more water than that there's about five times as much water in conservation storage typically in the reservoir so that's kind of more of a worst case scenario so even in times of drought uh there's a and even if we start creeping from the sediment pool deadpol storage up into conservation storage there's a lot of room in there to absorb um that 21,600 acre feet that we need to deliver so the set pool or the the Deadpool that you were referring to you said that we're in good shape where it's actually filling up at a slower Pace than what we predicted so do you have an estimated timeline or does it just depend on a lot of different factors it depends on a lot of different factors so um one of the major factors would be uh uh practices and behaviors in the Watershed above the lake right how it is we develop uh in Norman and for that matter more and Oklahoma City as well because they their City limits are in the Watershed of Thunderbird not just uh not just Norman but Norman has the biggest share uh in the Watershed so our practices in the Watershed to prevent uh sediment runoff and sediment loading uh into the lake uh will have an effect as far as a a point in time that's been calculated no I don't have that and haven't calculated that um but uh yes it's good news in the sense that it seems that maybe we're pushing the time Horizon out and the better we can do in the Watershed the farther out it would seem reasonable to say that we will push that date um but the date will come sure nature will reclaim now there's another misconception that I've heard that uh in a hundred years from the date it was constructed you'll walk out to what was once Calypso Cove or or clear Bay or somewhere on Alam and you'll look out at the lake and it'll just be kind of a like a soupy mud puddle right it'll almost not exist anymore and that's not the case like I said there's there's over a 100,000 acre feet of conservation storage acref foot is is a is a measure unit of measure for for water it's the amount of water it takes to cover one acre of land one foot deep so about 326,000 gallons so that's I use the term acref foot that's what I what I mean when I say that but so there's a there's a there's a lot of capacity in the reservoir but but make no mistake the behaviors of today and the decisions we make today in the Watershed will affect uh the usability of the Reservoir as we move into the future sure and these layers or pools that you've referred to is it your agency that's kind of charged with monitoring and measuring um those different layers so you know we have we have a gauge um that where we we measure the Lake elevation on a continuous basis um we we manage the reservoir from the perspective the central Oklahoma Master Conservancy District does from the perspective of managing primarily the water supply infrastructure that delivers the raw water to the three cities we also uh manage the dam itself uh all the property all the infrastructure all the equipment is still owned by the federal government the Bureau of Reclamation uh we manage it essentially under a contract with them and have since the the very beginning that's been the arrangement it continues to be so just like Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Rec manage the recreational aspects out of the lake under an agreement with the Bureau of Reclamation the federal government also so um so we we measure lake level back to your question um when there are when there is water in that flood poool that top level um the decisions that are made about whether to release out the gates down Little River so through the dam that water or to hold it is not our decision um it is decision of the US Army Corps of Engineers Tulsa District so we report every day uh what what has come in what our lake level is right how much rain we've gotten how much evaporation in the summertime that we've gotten because that's an output right you lose water through evaporation um and um and then how much we've pumped out uh to the three cities and based upon that information and then you know all the different uh Lakes they're also managing particularly Downstream of Thunderbird they make a decision about whether we are to release water or not release water so we we we we have make minimal operational decisions on the lake level uh that's really we more report and then respond uh to what the Tulsa District of the core of engineers ask us to do all right sounds like a lot of collaboration and communication who knew that Lakes were so complicated right guys so all right so that is some wonderful information from you thank you for sharing that with us sir um John could you share with us a little bit about ERS are they drying up we've heard a little bit of chatter about that okay well first of all uh there are at least two dozen Bedrock ERS in the state and uh you know probably just as many alvial ERS okay so whenever you hear new news about the AER drying up the one that's probably going to you're they're probably talking about is the ogalala which is out in Western Oklahoma okay and yes that is a serious matter out there um the Garber Willington aquifer which is what we're on uh no uh there's there's not a a a problem as a matter of fact we had two years ago we had static water levels that were the highest in more than a decade and so yeah we're uh now we've backed off a little bit in the last two years because of the drought but uh we're uh we're looking fine as far as uh quantity goes okay um so the wells that the city of Norman uses in pumps from is that all coming from the same source that private well owners are using or is it a little bit more complicated than that I want to answer yes and no okay because yes it's complicated okay um when we talk about the Garber Wellington aquafer um you know a lot of people think of this massive you know underground Lake first of all it's not doesn't behave anything like a lake okay so if you think of behaves like a lake you need to kind of set that idea aside and think about more like saturated sponges and CU that's kind of the way they they act um in the Garber Wellington you have a series of sandstone units about a dozen actually of sandstone units um each one of them acting kind of on its own okay so consequently the um domes well owners generally will drill down the first 200 ft and they'll uh tap into three of these the top three okay city of Norman usually bypasses those three and they usually start looking for water around 300 feet 400 feet 500 feet and uh so consequently although you're in the quote unquote same aquifer uh you're actually tapping different Sandstone units okay so that way uh I can say that they're not really sharing the same water uh as your domestic well owners are is it fair to say that the Sandstone units are maybe you could think of those as like layers or well actually almost like individual little aquafer layers okay okay so yeah they're they they be they're really fairly different as a matter of fact you have generally have different Chemistry Between each one of them so that's why we know that they don't communicate very well between if you got a nice 20 or 30 foot Shale in between the two Sandstone layers they probably don't communicate I've also heard the city of Norman was founded as a groundwater city um meaning that we didn't even originally have a lake to pull from so during our founding I guess we just let's go back to our founder okay okay who is Abner Norman right okay and what did he do what did he do he was a Sur surveyor yes okay he surveyed for the railroads okay so when you're surveying for the railroads what are you looking for remember this was back during steam engine times you're looking for water as a matter of fact he set up camp down at uh right around the OU uh duck pond and then because there was a nice spring there mhm then he's proceeded to go northward and there was a really nice spring at Andrews Park and that's the direction that the railroad took as a matter of fact that's the reason why uh downtown the streets in downtown Norman are all cattywampus they don't go north south is because they go parallel and orthogonal to the railroad okay and uh so you could say that uh you know the the centralized planning for the first few years was really dependent upon groundwater and the first uh water wells that were really drilled for the city were actually in Andrews Park so that's how Norman developed it was originally and quite frankly this is also the way probably most cities in the midwest were were founded I could probably guarantee you that in any city that was founded in the early 1900s uh probably has a water well within a qu mile of the intersection of Broadway and Main Street okay it's because people were needed railroads people they were very dependent upon railroads the railroads were dependent upon water and they were very dependent upon groundwater Springs all right so I I'm not sure if this is a question for you or for Kyle but I was hoping one of you could speak in general terms to me about water rights in Oklahoma kyleon question he may be a little bit more more sure I can give you the uh 35,000 foot overview so um in in Oklahoma um groundwater and surface water are permitted from a water R perspective separately groundwater is a private property right um so um subject to reasonable regulation by the okl Water Resources board which basically revolves around um regulating the quantity that you can take as a private property owner overlying a groundwater Basin one of the many that that John was referencing so it's a private property right cities can use platted lands as I recall I'm going reaching back in my memory banks here a little bit uh so if I miss speak John correct me but use platted lands to to dedicate um uh that overly a groundwater Basin an aquafer and get water from from that aquafer and that's of course how Norman has its Wells um surface water so surface water meaning something flowing down uh uh a defined a a Channel with bed and Banks a creek a stream a river uh which ultimately can uh terminate or partially terminate in a lake uh that's all surface water and surface water is the property of the public so no one individual outside of domestic rights um has any rights um to to water flowing by in a stream it's public water also subject to to regulation by the Oklahoma Water Resources board so so okay and a a good place maybe for folks to read further into water rights would be through the Oklahoma Water Resources board yes yes they got some good information online and and fact sheets and you bet okay wonderful I might want to add a little bit uh as far as groundwater rights go um we get a lot of Texans up here and they have a little bit different way of looking at things see in Texas you own your groundwater rights all the way to the Center of the Earth okay and that's yours in Oklahoma we don't look at it that way you own a share of the total aquafer okay so it's it's a bit different and so you get interpretation that are much different than what you would do south of the Red River um Oklahomans know that sharing is caring sharing is caring in this case yes so and so uh not only do you not have you have sharing and caring but you also um domestic Wells versus Municipal Wells you do have a domestic right to water you can drill on your property and use it for domestic purposes which is generally you know your family uh and also maybe growing you know a pretty nice large uh Garden like uh my grandmother did sure sure so it was really large so consequently you can do that but once you get too much beyond that then we start saying okay you are going to need to get a permit from the Water Resources board so uh there's there's a a point where it becomes non-domestic or if you're you know you really are you know have a huge garden and you're really kind of starting to make an industry out of it and you're really making profit and stuff like that then things can you can start sliding over across that boundary to commercial purposes and then that's when you really do need to get a commercial well permit type of thing right so it's very important you know folks that might be interested in in having their own well that they do some research in into this and and see what any rules or regulations may exist within their state or municipality it's always good to research if you're on domestic water a domestic well uh how your well is constructed you I always recommend getting a good water chemistry analysis uh and also I highly recommend doing a little bit of historical research uh if you want I got the aerial photos back to 1940 in for most of the garper Wellington you'd be surprised yeah you'd be surprised at how many people um go out and build a house and put down a a well and they happen to be in the middle of an old oil and gas field and then they start wondering why they're getting salt water so uh you need to do research because you may be in a vintage oil and gas field and they didn't really do environmental regulations very well back in the 40s sure so just saying all right so research is everything it is so Nathan can you uh talk a little bit about when and how the city may come into uh making decisions about drilling new wells yeah that's a really good question um so John gave us some good history on where Norman's been with groundwater Wells and we're kind of how we got to this point so groundwater is a vital component of our water supply IT Supplies about 30% of our water though that varies from year to year depending on uh precipitation demands um what our customers need so when we look to uh decide if we're going to drill additional Wells it's it's a very involved process with the city of Norman u in 2014 we developed a 2060 strategic water supply plan it was a very lengthy involved process where we had a lot of stakeholders help us decide what our water future would be uh as a component of that the recommendation was for us to drill 10 new wells in our groundwater system uh we've done nine so we've actually hit the amount that we want uh but we want to drill one more well just to help our supply a little bit um so we're working to do that also drill another well to replace a well that has failed but then as you mentioned at the beginning the aim Norman effort we're going to look at Water Supply um we did the 2060 plan but how is that plan tracking do we need to make some course Corrections and so we will re-evaluate our water supply options and groundwater will be a component that we'll evaluate as part of that study okay so might might be a silly question but especially for folks that are not involved in master planning for cities so you said this is a 260 water supply plan that you had talked about so it's 2024 so how does that is this like where we want to be in 2060 is something that we want to accomplish like way before then how do how do those timelines I guess work out oh no really good question so yeah when we say 2060 strategic water supply plan we're looking at what is that population growth that we would Envision to happen by 2060 what is that Associated Water demand that we will need to be able to provide to our customers so people can use the water in the way that they want um so yeah we're looking at what steps do we need to take to make sure as population grows we're staying ahead of that with our water supply got it okay and can you also shed some light and I think we've talked just a little bit about but on overall resource stability so we've discussed water from the lake water from the aquifer and we also purchased water from Oklahoma City so what does that look like for us and why do we do that yeah so Sim similarly to the groundwater when we did the Strategic water supply plan we also made the decision that we want to purchase water from Oklahoma City we buy about 1 million gallons of water per day from them just kind of a flat rate that we buy that's about 8% of our annual usage we buy that water at a set rate from them so we know the price it's something that's published in their city ordinances and I just wanted to note that it's a little bit different than the water that we purchased from Oklahoma City in the past in the early 2000s we bought water from them on a ond demand basis and the rate was a lot higher because we're saying hey we really need water because everybody's using it and at the same time all our customers are saying hey we really need water because everyone's using it so that was at a higher rate now we're at a more reasonable rate something that we know and we can plan for um Oklahoma City is a regional water supplier um they actually serve 19 to 20 utilities or cities within the metro area and their top seven customers are other cities so that is something that they do as their line of business um so you heard the phrase don't put all your eggs in one basket so we'd like to think don't get all your water from one bucket so by having three water supplies that helps us be a little more reliable and resilient for our customers so if we have a 40 2-in water man break outside of our water treatment plant we have to shut that down we can ask okl City to use a little bit more water from them on that emergency basis turn up our water wells and then we're still able to meet that customer demand while we work those through those issues so having those three sources has um been a great insurance for us to make sure we're still meeting our customer demands with that minimum impact the level of service um so we would see Oklahoma City groundwater and like Thunderbird for got no C say it's there for forever but it's going to be there for a really long time longer than that 100e life that they're saying so um we're planning to keep using those forward moving forward but then also when we do the aim Norman study look at are there other options that we need to consider or do we need to just U maybe strengthen those Supply sources yes and I think that process is coming along really well we're expecting um to have some some results and findings on AIM Norman by the end of the year so folks can uh folks can look out for that at normanok.gov at public meetings so do we foresee drought coming anytime soon I know Oklahoma are very familiar with that most of us have lived through it um but are there Reliable Tools or data in place in your opinions to really predict that sort of thing whoever wants to take it I'll jump in on that one um predicting drought I'm not a climatologist or meteorologist um I know few people that you could I could recom and but uh the bottom line is is that uh drought is in terms of actually predicting it like to you know tomorrow the drought STS you know no no we don't do that but uh there are always Tendencies for example we are going from an El Nino to a Lino condition over the next uh four or five months and um what in when we have Lanas our climate generally as a general rule tends to be a bit drier and warmer uh so we are already the state is already a third in drought third of the of this of Oklahoma right now is in drought so I expect it to get worse not necessarily better um as far as a drought affecting our our local Water Supplies um so far this year actually our recharge rates have been right on track uh for the for the aquifer now uh that's saying since the aquifer is 2,000 square miles uh some areas are getting it better than others and Norman happens to be get one that's getting it better than than others so uh you feel consider yourself lucky actually guys uh but uh as it's no doubt in my mind that uh a year from now we'll probably we will probably be in a little bit worse drought situation than we are in now uh and uh we recharge rates will probably decline um so uh it I'm trying to remember who it was that says when you're in you know Oklahoma you're if you're not coming out of a drought you're going into one and that's about where we are right now we are starting to go g to probably slide into another one uh you know within three to six months so what exactly comprises a drought how would you define that I know you talked about climate you talked about lake levels I mean is it all that is a million dooll question because drought means something to different people and for and different disciplines okay a drought to a farmer can mean three weeks without any rain okay uh a drought to a climatologist they actually have very defined scoring so to speak to Define what a drought is but uh and then uh if you go into the groundwater World well I look at it a drought where we have you know when static water levels fall and then come back up again that's a that's a drought situation when they fall it's a re a good recharge rate when they start coming back up and so uh you know I and I look at things probably a little bit longer term sure than uh uh your your local meteorologist when it comes to Drought so uh are we in a drought I would say that since a third of the Oklahoma is in uh technically drought yes we probably now Cleveland County at the moment is not in the drought area but uh you go up north to like Al alfha County yes they're definitely in a drop so maybe just to add on to what John is saying so yeah it changes very quickly in Oklahoma so as water supply professionals you always just kind of think a drought is coming and prepare for it so always conserve yearlong conserving here in Norman right yeah if we can if we can use Water Wisely and make sure we've we've got enough to to get us through those those tough times yeah so plan for the worst hope for the best all right that odd even watering and all of the water Wednesday tips we put out yeah we're always encouraging that uh conservation attitude however as far as be as far as looking at the beginning of a drought we're in good shape we really are uh all the reservoirs are full the AAR looks pretty good you know so you know if we're going to have a drought you know we're ready I feel I feel comfortable that we can't get it much better than we are right now all right as long as people keep a conserving right that's right keep it let's let's let's not you know water our Lawns on a a summer afternoon okay just don't do that all right so through strategic communication efforts at the city of Norman we've made a bigger push recently to focus on messaging related to water protection and water conser uh conservation as I just mentioned so with three water experts on today can you tell us in your own words why those things are important uh Community or Statewide sure I'll take that uh to start off so water protection uh water conservation um I'm taking water protection to mean particularly as it relates to water quality right uh and so behaviors as I mentioned earlier in the Watershed um do affect the quality of the water speaking specifically here about Lake Thunderbird uh they do affect the the quality of the water that's in the lake and then ultimately that you drink now Norman Midwest City and Del City do a fantastic job treating it uh but certainly um from both an aesthetic uh perspective uh when you're at the lake as well as uh the treatability and the extent to which water needs to be treated uh by those three cities uh those are greatly affected by the quality of the water that's in the lake so when we think about behaviors in the wed that affect the quality we primarily think about sediment loading right that causes suspended solids or turbidity or a lack of clarity we know that certainly about the water that's that's in Thunderbird we also think about nutrients right um um nitrogen and and and phosphorus primarily from from fertilizing activities uh that uh make their way into our our our bucket uh known as Lake Thunderbird and there uh they get mixed and provide great food uh for the growth uh of algae and algae become unsightly uh algae can uh through their life cycle their entire life cycle can impact uh dissolved oxygen levels and fish populations and then ultimately that that algae will die and fall to the bottom and and be broken down by other organisms and then the lake turns over we have taste and odor issues and people don't like taste and odor issues me included right uh and so on the cycle goes so really um uh it really though starts uh upstream and so protection uh of uh of the water um this protection of the quality of water that's that's running off uh which is where we get all the water for Thunderbird we get it from runoff um is critically important on the conservation side we talked about um we talked about that that that uh that dead pool storage that we have at the bottom of the lake and that it was designed to fill and take the sediment and that's going at a little slower rate than we thought which is great but eventually it will uh start to impact that conservation storage that profile that segment um of the lake where we do get our drinking water so how do you stretch the uh the uh the supply uh conservation and using only what you need right and using it smartly and efficiently doesn't put more water in the Lake per se but it makes it go farther which in a sense arguably accomplishes uh the same thing or at least very similarly back to water uh protection and water quality also if we can present prevent sediment from going in there we're we're slowing uh the deposition rate right of that sediment that's going into the Deadpool and hopefully pushing um that time frame out one thing I wanted to say now I'm shifting back to conservation so kind of going back and forth on these things you're all on topic great glad to hear it um so on conservation kind of going back to to the drought discussion we were having a moment ago obviously that's our our biggest threat right uh really is is drought uh groundwater uh and every aquifer's different behaves uh differently than surface water does and aquifer does in drought situations um uh our lake is certainly susceptible to to to Drought uh and uh in a drought situation obviously less water coming in uh less uh less water than ultimately is available to give you some context um about that and the importance of of conservation in terms of the amount of water that we use so I mention that we have a permit from the Water Resources board to um to uh uh withdraw in any given year 21,600 acre feet of water which is like I said a little over 7 billion gallons of water um so and I also mentioned that in conservation storage in that section of the lake we have far more water than that in any given year but on the opposite end it can get quite severe so the recent calculations for the lake would say that our firm yield which is the amount of water that could be delivered um in the drought of record so the drought all we have is the past we talked about predicting drought only way you know you're really in a drought is when you're in one and then you know you're in one when did it start and when's it going to end who knows but you know it when you see it uh but it's hard to see it coming right so what we have to rely on in terms of modeling sort of that vulnerability for a lake is to look to the past that's what that's our best information right so when we look to the past and we look to the drought of record in central Oklahoma we look to the 1950s and in the 1950s if the lake had existed then which it did not but if it had and we were trying to deliver 21,000 Acres feet in the mid 1950s we would not have been able to deliver 21,600 acre feet we would have we think uh been able to deliver about 125 to 13,000 acre feet so not quite half a little more than half so there can be very wide swings right so so no you know back to to Nathan's point about not putting all your eggs in one basket this is why these these sources are vulnerable to to forces we can't we can't control and so conservation in terms of usage and what we call demand management another term for conservation is critically important to stretch those supplies during those times in particular all right well thank you for that and there's some great guidance and tips from um our division of environmental resilience and sustainability at Green nor.org so anybody can visit uh that web page and get some really great information is there anything else that you gentlemen would like to share with our listeners other than use best management practices uh when it comes to uh groundwater uh you know a lot of times if it doesn't run off your property and go into the lake it's going to go down into the aquafer then it's going to sit there until you pump it back out again right and it may not well I matter of fact I'm reminded of a of a situation one time I had a a water well that people said it was just beginning to taste funny and they didn't know why well it turns out that uh in the shed back in the garage there was an old abandoned water well and the gentleman was disposing used motor oil down the yeah okay so uh it but you know it's one of those things uh he wasn't putting two and two together and he didn't understand you know what he was his where his water was coming from he didn't have a good grasp and understanding of of the aquafer and uh so he thought it was perfectly fine oh my yeah that's well that was an interesting situation but uh you know the bottom line is learn best management practices think about what you're doing go ahead and take your hazardous materials and put them in the proper places dispose of them properly so it doesn't get into the the water cycle basically one water it's all connected all the water all is connected believe it or not all the water we have today is all the water we'll ever have so we have to take care of it right all right well thank you gentlemen so much for joining us this morning on the show we appreciate your time thank you for PR thank you thank you very much questions or commentary about on West Gray can be sent into public affairs at normanok.gov shouts to our producer and editor Mr Bryce Holland of the city of Norman Communications office until next time stay engaged stay informed and always remember to cast your ballot I'm Tiffany Vera thank you for joining us on West Gray [Music]
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