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Water request spurs neighbors' objectionsLAWTON, Okla. (AP)--Kiowa tribal members want to stop a landowner from selling water from a spring-fed creek they consider a holy site. Doug Hillary and his family own Meers-Saddle Mountain Ranch near Medicine Park and want to sell water from Jimmy Creek--which is a main supply source to Lake Lawtonka--to Rural Water District No. 1 in Comanche County. The creek runs through the ranch. Descendants of a Kiowa allottee and other nearby landowners attended the Oklahoma Water Resources Board's monthly meeting Sept. 12 in an effort to stop plans to sell up to 1.5 billion gallons of water per year. Hillary's request was tabled after a nearly three-hour hearing. Some tribes and individual American Indians have reserved water rights granted by the federal government. The water board's general counsel Dean Couch said that if a federal lawsuit were filed, the government would have to identify every possible claimant to the water, which could take many years. The creek is named for Jimmy Quoetone, a Kiowa who was allotted 160 acres before statehood. "Growing up, we spent more time in Jimmy Creek than we did in our own homes," said Quoetone's granddaughter, Daisy Quoetone Mammedaty. She said she frequently accompanied her grandfather to a site along the creek where he conducted daily prayers. "To me, it's as holy as any church," Mammedaty said. The water district serves 1,100 customers but expects the number to double within 50 years. The Hillary family's request to the state water board include three groundwater permits totaling 4,186 acre feet per year and one stream water permit for 464 acre feet per year. An acre foot is 325,850 gallons of water. Opponents said the permits would deplete the groundwater table and the creek. Tom Lay, the ranch's attorney, said the rate of water that the city of Lawton charges the district have increased 215 percent over three years, and that charge is passed on to the rural water district customers. The board decided to postpone action on the water sales request until its November meeting. The delay will give both sides time to negotiate and time for the board's staff to study potential legal ramifications. Date: 9/21/06
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