Legislative findings. A. This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Spring Creek Watershed Study Act”. B. The Legislature finds that: 1. Increasing pressure from agriculture and residential development as well as stream bank erosion and other activities have led to declining water quality levels in the Northeast Oklahoma watershed known as Spring Creek located in Cherokee, Delaware, and Mayes counties near Kansas, Oklahoma, resulting in increased concern by the residents of the Spring Creek area and citizens of Oklahoma as a whole as to the continued health of the watershed. The once pristine stream is a prime example of how many similar high quality Ozark waterbodies that draw millions of visitors to the area each year, support water supplies for growing urban centers in Oklahoma, and provide habitat for important wildlife and fisheries resources are threatened without cooperative, voluntary protective action by local communities and other stakeholders; 2. Improved voluntary land management practices including soil conservation practices, riparian restoration and protection, reforestation, streambank livestock exclusion, and other methods of stewardship have great potential to improve and protect the quality of water in the Spring Creek watershed while improving the ecological health of the area; and 3. It is in the interest of the citizens of this state as a whole and the residents of the Spring Creek watershed that the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, in partnership with other local, state, and federal agencies and nongovernmental organizations, undertake a comprehensive water quality study of Spring Creek to determine the best course of action to protect and improve the health of the aquatic habitat in the watershed. C. It is the intent of the Legislature that the findings of this study will be used to direct implementation of voluntary, incentive-based conservation practices by the Commission in partnership with other local, state, and federal agencies and subject to availability of resources, in the Spring Creek watershed to protect and improve the aquatic habitat and water quality in the area.
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