Okla. Stat. tit. 27A, § 27A-3-7-111: Short title — Spring Creek Watershed Study Act —

Legislative findings.

A. This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Spring

Creek Watershed Study Act”.

B. The Legislature finds that:

1. Increasing pressure from agriculture and residential

development as well as stream bank erosion and other activities have

led to declining water quality levels in the Northeast Oklahoma

watershed known as Spring Creek located in Cherokee, Delaware, and

Mayes counties near Kansas, Oklahoma, resulting in increased concern

by the residents of the Spring Creek area and citizens of Oklahoma

as a whole as to the continued health of the watershed. The once

pristine stream is a prime example of how many similar high quality

Ozark waterbodies that draw millions of visitors to the area each

year, support water supplies for growing urban centers in Oklahoma,

and provide habitat for important wildlife and fisheries resources

are threatened without cooperative, voluntary protective action by

local communities and other stakeholders;

2. Improved voluntary land management practices including soil

conservation practices, riparian restoration and protection,

reforestation, streambank livestock exclusion, and other methods of

stewardship have great potential to improve and protect the quality

of water in the Spring Creek watershed while improving the

ecological health of the area; and

3. It is in the interest of the citizens of this state as a

whole and the residents of the Spring Creek watershed that the

Oklahoma Conservation Commission, in partnership with other local,

state, and federal agencies and nongovernmental organizations,

undertake a comprehensive water quality study of Spring Creek to

determine the best course of action to protect and improve the

health of the aquatic habitat in the watershed.

C. It is the intent of the Legislature that the findings of

this study will be used to direct implementation of voluntary,

incentive-based conservation practices by the Commission in

partnership with other local, state, and federal agencies and

subject to availability of resources, in the Spring Creek watershed

to protect and improve the aquatic habitat and water quality in the

area.