Kaw Lake Water Supply

This piece is critical in order to obtain the appropriate permitting and general knowledge of the land upon or within which we will be building. The environmental aspect of the project truly touches each piece of infrastructure. By integrating environmental services such as geotechnical surveys before the first pipe is installed, we reduce the surprises which will occur later on.

The intake refers to the infrastructure piece located at Kaw Lake. The engineering team chose a micro-tunnel design to minimize the impact to the lake. The building was carefully designed in order to decrease the aesthetic impact on lake-goers and people who travel along lakeside roads.

The pipeline is a approximately 70-mile long, 36-inch diameter pipe which will be placed underground in order to transmit water from Kaw Lake to the Water Treatment Facility in Enid. The pipeline requires a large amount of land acquisition and environmental considerations in order to be successful.

Once the water from Kaw Lake makes it to Enid, the surface water must be made safe to drink. This process will take place at the Water Treatment Plant. The plan is to blend the surface water with the ground water we are still collecting from wells to prevent any undesirable changes to the current system. The water will taste the same as the current water does so residents will not notice a difference in the water as we convert from 100% groundwater to a blend of surface water and ground water.

Distribution refers to the way in which the water will be taken from the Water Treatment Plant to the water consumers. Without the distribution infrastructure, the water will be transmitted and treated with nowhere to go! This water main will provide water to residents by connecting with existing infrastructure.

Currently, the average daily demand for water is a bit over 8 million gallons, however maximum daily demand has been nearly 15 million gallons per day. Our projections indicate that the maximum demand will be increasing by another million gallons or more in the next 10 years.

The project will update our current water distribution system. It will remove 7.5 miles of cast iron pipe, which reduces pipes with lead-sealed joints.

In 2016, Enid residents passed a 3/4 cent sales tax and an extension of a ¼ cent tax to fund the Kaw Lake Water Project. However, Enid residents are not bearing the majority of the cost. We anticipate a large portion of the sales tax will be paid by non-residents shopping in Enid and we will also continue to sell water to other municipalities in the region: Lahoma, North Enid, Breckenridge, Garber and Waukomis.

In 2016, Enid residents passed a 3/4 cent sales tax and an extension of a ¼ cent tax to fund the Kaw Lake Water Project. However, Enid residents are not bearing the majority of the cost. We anticipate a large portion of the sales tax will be paid by non-residents shopping in Enid and we will also continue to sell water to other municipalities in the region: Lahoma, North Enid, Breckenridge, Garber and Waukomis.

The project is not just for the next 50 years. In fact, one of the key reasons this pipeline project was selected is because it is scalable, so in the future, if we have a higher demand, we can increase our capacity as needed. The Kaw Lake Water Project is meant to provide water far into the future.

The two current water treatment plants chlorinate and fluoridate the water since it is all ground water. Surface water, like what we’ll acquire from Kaw Lake, requires a water treatment plant to remove particles from the water and make it safe to drink.

Building a lake outside of Enid was modeled and proved to be far more expensive and possibly less sustainable/stable for a long-term water supply.