Oklahoma groundwater users would follow reporting and waste-control rules

Groundwater permit holders must report their yearly water use to the Oklahoma Water Resources Board. The reporting rule covers all permit holders, with added information for operations that house swine under the specified waste-management and roof-covered conditions. Swine operations must say whether they are licensed under the Oklahoma Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations Act. The Board must notify the agriculture department about covered swine operations that report groundwater use but are not licensed. Reports are due during the period set by the Board after the permitted use; these provisions take effect November 1, 2026.

The Oklahoma Water Resources Board must stop groundwater waste and may use orders, fines, reporting requirements, court action, or permit enforcement. The rules cover groundwater users, including data centers and other facilities that use groundwater for cooling, and include limits on pollution, overuse, inefficient use, and abandoned wells. Data centers may not use groundwater for evaporative or other cooling that consumes water without recirculation. A permit for a covered cooling facility requires a closed-loop, dielectric immersion, or similarly low-consumption system that substantially recirculates groundwater. Pollution complaints and most related enforcement matters go to the Department of Environmental Quality or another appropriate environmental agency, except individual proceedings to suspend a water-board permit. The described restrictions and enforcement provisions take effect November 1, 2026.

The Oklahoma Water Resources Board must create rules and policies for handling groundwater reports, investigating waste claims, and imposing fines and penalties. The duties concern permitted groundwater users, their usage reports, permitted water allotments, and alleged waste under the listed groundwater rules. The Board must accept, audit, and review reports on time. The Board must modernize its data system and provide an online or electronic way to receive and index usage reports. Penalties apply to overuse under a permit or waste covered by the groundwater rules. The duties take effect November 1, 2026; the text does not set a separate deadline for the rules or electronic system.