Red River SHOOTOUT Alive and Well in Federal Court...but this time its about water

In 2005, the powers-that-be in college football changed, and forever dampened the name of what has been for Longhorn and Sooner football fans "the game of the year, every year...for over a century." It has been said that the annual October "Shootout" between The University of Texas and The University of Oklahoma "is judgment day for all Texas and OU fans." Only now it's supposedly just a "rivalry." Apparently, the ages-old reference to a rivalry connoted violence, and that was just unaccpetable to the NCAA. Damn lawyers! Irrespective, the second Saturday in October will always be the Red River Shootout for me and my kids!

Fortunately for we traditionalists, a lawsuit filed in January 2007 has now been dubbed the "Red River Shootout." Only now, the prize at stake is not the golden hat trophy, but billions of gallons of water.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City by the Tarrant Regional Water District first referenced on this site in my June 8, 2009 blog entry. In the suit, the TRWD claims that the Oklahoma Water Resources Board's moratorium on out-of-state water sales is unconstitutional.

The water district has applied to purchase up to 150 billion gallons of water from Red River tributaries in southern and southeastern Oklahoma, and has said that it is willing to pay between $15 million and $60 million a year to transport water from Oklahoma to North Texas, depending upon the volume of water taken. The water would be transported through pipelines and pumping stations, which will cost between $500 million and $4 billion and take five years to build.

The Upper Trinity Regional Water District and the North Texas Municipal Water District also have pending applications before Oklahoma's water board. They, however, have not filed suit.

Last Friday, the Oklahoma Attorney General's office asked the Court to dismiss the lawsuit on grounds that a new law passed in May effectively repealed the moratorium and that the issue should now be decided by the Red River Compact Commission, which was created by Congress in 1980 to apportion water that flows along the Red River. The 1979 Red River Compact was reached among Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.

Oklahoma's first Motion to Dismiss was denied last September.

No ruling has been made, and no hearing date has been set, but I will provide regular updates on this suit, which has important legal implications on water rights.

A similar lawsuit is pending in U.S. District Court in Muskogee, OK. That suit, filed by the City of Hugo, OK claims the Oklahoma moratorium violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. It was filed one day after the City of Irving, TX and the city of Hugo, Okla., agreed to what is believed to be the first water sales agreement between an Oklahoma water authority and a Texas customer

Water Districts and Water Supply Corporations

R L Wilson, P.C. Law Firm of San Antonio, Texas routinely assists and counsels water utilities in all aspects of their operations. We maintain substantial experience in obtaining and amending Certificates of Convenience and Necessity (CCN), meeting regulatory reporting and filing requirements, drafting and amending Utility Service Regulations, drafting and negotiating Utility Service Agreements with developers, negotiating and drafting Water Supply Agreements and Interlocal Cooperation Agreements, drafting and negotiating Groundwater Leases, negotiating and drafting Wholesale Water Purchase Agreements, defending enforcement actions, assisting in the sale and acquisition of facilities, lands and easements, and providing counsel on water resource development issues.

We also advise our water utility clients regarding public governance issues such as open government, professional services procurement, competitive bidding requirements, facilities construction, inter-governmental relations, and contract implementation. In addition, we are experienced in drafting and modifying proposed and existing legislation affecting our water utility clients.

Attorney Trey Wilson has represented public and privately-owned water utilities in state, federal and bankruptcy court litigation relating to service area/boundary disputes (including 7 U.S.C. § 1926(b) litigation), service rates, real estate transactions, contract disputes, professional negligence claims (relating to defective design of facilities), collections/service interruption, and permitting disputes.