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<br />The Economic Challenge <br /> <br />.... <br /> <br />Southwest Oklahoma has historically been a water-short area, with <br />the success of the agricultural community being strongly dependent <br />on the vagaries of natural rainfall. The establishment of water districts <br />and dams has helped to solve the problem, but not eliminated it. The <br />last several years have been relatively dry in sonie areas. with 1970 <br />and 1971 being especially bad around Altus. Fig. 1 gives historical <br />rainfall data for Altus. Lake Altus can carry 145,000 acre feet, and. <br />in ordinary years 18" of water are allotted to the farms in its irrigation <br />district. In 1971, the allotment has been only 2" (10.000 acre feet) and <br />there will be no more until spring of 1972. On September 1, the lake was <br />less than 10% filled (13,928 acre feet). 39 acre feet are lost daily by <br />evaporation, and the City of Altus daily requires about 4 acre feet; <br />10.000 acre feet are reserved to be sure the city has enough. This year, <br />in spite of record September rains, t}1e reservoir is still low. The rains <br />peaked just outside the watershed. What fell in the watershed has prepared <br />the soil for runoff, but not yet provided the runoff. Some dry farming is <br />rescued, but the irrigation district is still critical. <br /> <br />b <br />lrl <br /> <br />These figures may summarize the local problem, but they do not dramatize <br />the situation in terms of the countless individual tragedies which are a direct <br />and indirect result of the drought. The economic rewards of ample water <br />are obviously great. The total economic good to the community from a <br />full lake is huge even when considering only this small area. If one were <br />able to augment precipitation when and where rain was required throughout <br />Oklahoma, decrease precipitation in severe flooding cases where the <br />disbenefits of water would exceed the benefits, and decrease hail, the <br />benefits to the economy of the whole state would be tremendous. Some of <br />these weather modifications are now feasible to a limited extent, while the <br />rest look promising. A long term large-area operational program for <br />weather control in Oklahoma deserves careful thought. <br /> <br />.. <br /> <br />.. <br /> <br />3 <br />