Residents in an Oklahoma town are fighting back against a wealthy neighbor who they claim is running their beloved Cedar Lake dry. KOKH – FOX 25 is reporting on the issue, which was covered during a recent Oklahoma Water Resources Board meeting, where residents claim that former Oklahoma Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee and his father, Virgil, have put a number of unpermitted dams on their hundreds of acres of land, preventing water from reaching the lake.
This has left their docks standing several feet above dry dirt, and their boats beached on the mud and grass along what was once the waterway’s lush banks.
And that’s not all; they also say that these dams are causing their own wells to dry up as a result, leaving many residents in Canadian County without access to clean drinking water.
Now, they are calling the situation dire, and asking local officials to get involved to help regulate the dam situation on the Coffee property.
The Western Oklahoma Lake’s Water Levels Have Been Dropping
Local NPR station KGOU reports that the lake has taken several years to reach the critical point it stands at today. In the past, when water levels would drop, nearby streams would eventually top it off, refilling both Cedar Lake and the wells of residents in the area.
But people claim that unpermitted dams on the Coffee property have stopped that from happening, causing the lake to completely dry up in some parts, and causing local wells to drop their flows to a mere trickle. This has forced some residents to refill the water on their own, often paying $100 per delivery, spending more than a thousand dollars on a utility that used to be free.
It’s also prevented locals and visitors alike from enjoying the lake. “The docks are going dry, and we can’t get the boats hardly in the water,” resident Anneliese Herren told KGOU. “My neighbor has a boat, but he can’t use it. How ridiculous is that? People’s wells are running dry, and they can’t sell their house. You can’t sell a house without water. They’re stuck.”
The Coffee Family Says They Are Trying to Cooperate
Cedar Lake’s residents may blame the Coffee family, but they responded to KGOU’s request for comment with an email, saying that they were trying to help. “As soon as my parents were made aware of the issue regarding their ranch in Canadian County by the Water Board, our family has retained two engineering firms and a lawyer to guide us in these matters,” Coffee told a reporter via an email that expressed his reluctance to discuss the matter further due to threatened legal action.
However, KOKH – FOX 25 claimed in its reporting that the dams on the family’s property did lack the required permits at the time they were constructed, an issue that still remains unresolved.
Believe it or not, most places do require certain permits for constructing dams on your property. Those requirements can change depending on what you’re planning on storing, as well.
For example, in Pennsylvania, certain counties require a dam if you will be storing fluid or semi-fluid other than water. In other parts of the commonwealth, you may be able to create dams in a pond without a permit, depending on how its size and usage fall under the PA Dam Safety and Encroachments Act.
If you’re considering building a dam on your property, it’s best to consult with local officials first to find out what types of permits you may need and to find out if there are any other considerations required before you get started. Hopefully, the Cedar Lake families can find a resolution to their problem soon.