Editor's note: This is part one of a CNHI series looking at Oklahoma's water supply

By Carol Cole-Frowe

Transcript Staff Writer

-- A hand-dug water well has served Janet and Butch Crenshaw's rural Pawnee County home for more than a century.

Last year, for the first time, it ran dry.

"Where do you go? Where do you live if you don't have water?" said Janet Crenshaw, who inherited her home on 100 acres near where Red Rock Creek meets the Arkansas River.

"Let me tell you," she said, "running a water hose (from a water tank) to do your laundry in the wintertime is not easy."

The Crenshaws spent about $1,200 to drill another well. It was dry.

Then they got lucky. Rains came. Their old well came back to life.

"It was rough, but it never has been that dry, either," Butch Crenshaw said. "Hopefully it will never happen again."

Dry wells were far from the minds of the Crenshaws and other Oklahomans this past spring and summer, when record rains caused widespread flooding. All of the state's reservoirs have since refilled to their limits. Oklahoma, with more miles of lakeshore than any other state, would seem to have plenty of water.

The state's water wealth, experts warn, could become a mirage. State officials say growing population and increased demand could bring more water problems and dry wells in the future.

"We are beginning to see the limits of the water resources that the state has," said Miles Tolbert, state secretary of the environment. "So the challenge then for Oklahoma is try to decide what kind of century this is going to be."

Oklahoma's problem is complex. Sustainability is a concern, especially for those who draw water from depleted underground aquifers. However, some parts of the state rely upon abundant lakes and reservoirs -- water that is coveted by others.

Quality also is an issue, with tighter federal limits on groundwater contamination. These include rules for naturally occurring arsenic, which have shut down water wells in Norman and Moore.