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An Act
ENROLLED SENATE
BILL NO. 259 By: Howard and Burns of the
Senate
and
Newton and Boles of the
House
An Act relating to water and water rights; amending
82 O.S. 2021, Sections 1020.12 and 1020.15, which
relate to groundwater use, reporting, metering, and
permitting; modifying reporting requirements for
certain water use; providing for fines and penalties;
modifying permitting exclusions; requiring Oklahoma
Water Resources Board to investigate certain usage
complaints; directing metering and measurement of
certain groundwater usage subject to Oklahoma Water
Resources Board monitoring; requiring Oklahoma Water
Resources Board to promulgate rules and implement
certain policies relating to groundwater users;
expanding duties of the Oklahoma Water Resources
Board; updating statutory language and references;
providing for codification; and providing an
effective date.
SUBJECT: Groundwater use
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 82 O.S. 2021, Section 1020.12, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 1020.12. A. Holders of permits shall be required to
report to the Oklahoma Water Resources Board annually their use of
water pursuant to their permits. Holders of permits shall remit the
report as required by the Board in the period following the
permitted use. Willful failure to report annual usage may result in
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cancellation penalties, fines, or suspension of the permit by the
Board upon proper notice and hearing as provided in the
Administrative Procedures Act. Nonuse, conservation, or usage
practices that result in less usage than the permit maximum shall
not result in diminishment of the permit holder's future permitted
equal proportional share.
B. Holders of permits which use groundwater in connection with
an animal feeding operation which houses swine and primarily uses a
liquid waste management system where animals are primarily housed in
a roof-covered structure shall be required to indicate such use in
their annual water use report. Such holders shall also indicate
whether or not the animal feeding operation is licensed pursuant to
the Oklahoma Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations Act.
C. The Board shall notify the State Oklahoma Department of
Agriculture, Food, and Forestry of the names and addresses of all
permit holders who report usage of groundwater in connection with an
animal feeding operation which houses swine and which primarily uses
a liquid waste management system where animals are primarily housed
in a roof-covered structure and who are not licensed pursuant to the
Oklahoma Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations Act.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 82 O.S. 2021, Section 1020.15, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 1020.15. A. The Oklahoma Water Resources Board shall
not permit any groundwater user to commit waste by:
1. Drilling a well, taking, or using groundwater without a
permit, except for domestic use as defined in this title;
2. Taking more groundwater than is authorized by the permit;
3. Taking or using groundwater in any manner so that the water
is lost for beneficial use;
4. Transporting groundwater from a well to the place of use in
such a manner that there is an excessive loss in transit;
5. Using groundwater in such an inefficient manner that
excessive losses occur;
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6. Allowing any groundwater to reach a pervious stratum and be
lost into cavernous or otherwise pervious materials encountered in a
well;
7. Permitting or causing the pollution of a fresh water strata
or basin through any act which will permit fresh groundwater
polluted by minerals or other waste to filter or otherwise intrude
into such a basin or subbasin. The Board shall be precluded from
determining whether waste by pollution will occur pursuant to the
provisions of this paragraph if the activity for which the applicant
or water user intends to or has used the water as specified under
Section 1020.9 of this title is required to comply with rules and
requirements of or is within the jurisdictional areas of
environmental responsibility of the Department of Environmental
Quality or the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and
Forestry;
8. Drilling wells and producing groundwater therefrom except in
accordance with the well spacing previously determined by the Board;
9. Using groundwater for air conditioning or cooling purposes
without providing facilities to aerate and reuse such water; or
10. Failure Failing to properly plug abandoned water wells in
accordance with rules of the Board and file reports thereof; or
11. Using groundwater for cooling purposes at a data processing
facility or data center through open-air evaporative cooling systems
or any other cooling technology that consumes groundwater through
evaporation or discharge without recirculation. Groundwater permits
for such facilities shall only be issued if the applicant
demonstrates that the cooling system utilizes closed-loop,
dielectric immersion, or other comparably low-consumptive cooling
technologies that substantially recirculate groundwater and minimize
consumptive loss as determined by the Board.
B. Complaints by any individual in violation of the provisions
of subsection A of this section shall be made to the Board and to
the local groundwater irrigation district, if such district is
established pursuant to the Groundwater Irrigation District Act.
Investigation of such complaints shall be made by the Board, in
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conjunction with such other agencies, boards, or the district, with
which the Board may contract. Except as otherwise provided by
paragraph 7 of subsection A of this section, any employee of the
Board having evidence that an act of waste is being committed in his
or her presence, or after investigation of a complaint filed by
another individual, shall take steps to assure that the waste ceases
upon review of reporting, audits of usage, an investigation of a
complaint filed by any person, or the Board's own independent
determination, the Board shall take action to cease commission of
such waste and impose fines and penalties on such user as provided
in Section 1020.22 of this title. Such steps shall include, but
shall not be limited to pursuing voluntary compliance, obtaining the
issuance of a cease and desist order by the Executive Director of
the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, imposing progressive fines and
penalties related to the severity and frequency of waste, requiring
more frequent reporting of usage, instituting action in a court of
competent jurisdiction to enjoin the waste, pursuing a suspension of
any suspending the permit or other administrative remedies by the
Board, and filing a complaint in the district court of the county
wherein such violation has occurred, and it shall be the duty of the
district attorney of said such county to prosecute such complaint.
C. In cases of waste by pollution pursuant to paragraph 7 of
subsection A of this section, any complaint or investigation, or any
enforcement matter other than an individual proceeding involving the
suspension of an Oklahoma Water Resources Board permit, shall be
referred to and subject to the jurisdiction of the Department of
Environmental Quality or other appropriate state environmental
agency or state agency with limited environmental responsibility.
SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1020.19B of Title 82, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
The Oklahoma Water Resources Board shall promulgate rules and
implement policies for the purposes of directing its agents,
employees, and systems to:
1. Accept, audit, and review reporting on a timely basis from
permitted groundwater users;
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2. Modernize its data collection system with respect to
permitted groundwater users and implement a program to receive and
index usage reports by an online or electronic system;
3. Investigate any claims of waste pursuant to Section 1020.15
of Title 82 of the Oklahoma Statutes; and
4. Impose fines and penalties for overuse of water allotments
under a permit by any permitted well user or waste pursuant to
Section 1020.15 of Title 82 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
SECTION 4. This act shall become effective November 1, 2026.
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Passed the Senate the 14th day of May, 2026.
Presiding Officer of the Senate
Passed the House of Representatives the 6th day of May, 2026.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Received by the Office of the Governor this ____________________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________
Approved by the Governor of the State of Oklahoma this _________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
_________________________________
Governor of the State of Oklahoma
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
Received by the Office of the Secretary of State this __________
day of __________________, 20 _______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________