DASNR has many faculty members dedicated to solving some of the major water issues the state is facing. Housing the Oklahoma Water Resources Center, which has more than 75 faculty members and OSU Cooperative Extension specialists from all nine academic departments, gives DASNR has a strong presence in all 77 counties. Water research is being conducted in plants, soils and ecosystems; water conservation; land use and water quality; and economics and policy, and disseminating the results through vast Extension programming.

DASNR water initiatives

• The Oklahoma Water Resources Center (2018)
• OSU develops Bermuda grass that can decrease water bills (2017)
• OSU research could help double lifespan of available water in Oklahoma Panhandle (2017)
• Real-time weather data make real difference (2017)
• ThinkWater on the mind of Oklahomans
• News from the Oklahoma Water Resources Center

Highlights

• Since 2000, the Oklahoma Water Resources Center has funded nearly 50 research projects, providing support and training for 180 students.
• DASNR’s South Central Research Station is conducting irrigation research with the City of Chickasha, reusing much of the 1.7 million gallons of wastewater that otherwise would be dumped daily into the Washita River.
• Research conducted in the Barren Fork Creek watershed in northeast Oklahoma demonstrated the value of riparian protection as a best management practice to stop streams from eroding and phosphorus-laden sediment washing into streams.
• Extension designed the low-impact development approach, a comprehensive land planning and engineering design approach with a goal of maintaining and enhancing urban and developed watersheds.
• The Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden features a drought-tolerant garden through a partnership with Extension, OSU’s Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture and the Oklahoma City Utilities Department.

We Are: Water Conservation