Foss joining 6 other districts in water effort

In an effort to halt a disturbing infringement on water rights for all of them, the Foss Master Conservancy District and six sister organizations are teaming up to present a united front which they hope will assure a plentiful supply of water for generations far into the future.
The Foss board voted Monday night at its July meeting to contribute up to $10,000 toward the effort. The other districts presumably are doing the same thing. The total of $70,000 would be used to hire the prestigious GableGotwals legal firm to lead what Foss consultant Duane Smith calls a positive effort to protect the districts’ water rights.
“This law firm, along with Duane Smith, is going to represent us along with the manager of each district in a coordinated engagement with the Board of Reclamation and the Oklahoma Water Resources Board,” said David Berrong, chairman of the Foss board and Clinton’s mayor-elect. “It hopefully will be in a spirit of negotiation to find a suitable way to secure the original rights that were given to the different reservoirs by the federal government that goes all the way back to the Dust Bowl.”