Tuesday, October 30, 2012

New water law statutes take effect on November 1, 2012

Two new water laws will take effect on November 1, 2012.

Below are bill descriptions from the Oklahoman, along with hyperlinks to the text of the enrolled bills:
Fresh water council: HB 3055 sets a statewide goal of using no more freshwater in 2060 than is used now and forms an advisory council to make recommendations.
.... 
Gray water: HB 2835 gives homeowners more flexibility to reuse gray water on their property. Gray water is water left over from domestic activities such as laundry, dishwashing and bathing that is safe for reuse in irrigation activities like watering flower beds.

In addition, one new law addresses the red cedar problem, which is an issue for the state's water supply (again, description from the Oklahoman, hyperlinks to text of enrolled bill):
Harvest of red cedars: Legislation also was passed and signed into law this year that takes effect Thursday which allows the Corrections Department to use inmates to harvest Eastern red cedars on public and private land. SB 1539 is intended to be another way to attack the hardy Eastern red cedars that choke off land for crops and pastures and fuel wildfires. The trees helped spread wildfires across at least four counties during the summer. They take over nearly 300,000 acres of Oklahoma land each year; it's estimated the state is losing about 700 acres per day to the trees.
http://newsok.com/new-laws-take-effect-thursday-in-oklahoma/article/3723648/?page=2