Poultry industry gift monies have kept Oklahoma scenic stream water
monitoring guages from having to be shut down.

Dereck Smithee, the head of the water monitoring department for the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, told Commission members at an August 21 meeting that his agency had shortfalls of over $200,000 in funds available >to keep water monitoring guages operating on Oklahoma streams.
Smithee pledged to the Commission to try and use available funding to keep scenic stream monitoring guages operating, but could offer the Commission no guarantees.

Smithee said the Oklahoma Water Resources Board has experienced cuts
in state funding and that some previous participating partners in water
quality monitoring had decided not to participate in the program next year
for fiscal reasons.

Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commissioner Rick Stubblefield spoke in support of funding the monitoring guages. "The work that is being done with riparianeasements, both with poultry gift monies and with EPA monies, cannot be validated without water monitoring," he said after the meeting.
The Commission overwhelmingly passed the measure to keep the scenic stream
monitoring guages funded - with poultry gift monies.

Stubblefield did point out how ironic it is the State of Oklahoma has not chosen to fully fund the cost of water quality monitoring.
"Those folks in Oklahoma City talk big when it comes to water quality, but
that is all it is - talk. The real dollars we have seen when it comes
to getting water quality monitored comes from the poultry industry. Other agencies come to us with their hats in hand when the real work needs to be done."

Stubblefield said that in the coming year almost $90,000 of poultry
gift monies have been committed to paying for USGS and state of Oklahoma
water quality monitoring.
"It is absolutely vital that the programs continue - we need to
document the results of the many projects under way to improve Oklahoma's water
 quality," Stubblefield said.
Once again, thanks are due to the poultry industry for their efforts to support Oklahoma's water quality."