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you get a permit, and you get fined for the pleasure of doing that.
<br />So the State of Texas, to regulate that water from Oklahoma, could issue QTDS permit, can regulate
<br />the pollutant content of it, or they could issue a water right permit, and when they issue a water right
<br />permit, they're going to look at the water quality impact, they're going to look at the impact on the biology
<br />of the receiving water, they're going to be concerned about whether they're introducing non - native
<br />species into Lake Pat Mayse, and so there are mechanisms at the state level that can provide a healthy
<br />degree of assurance that those issues will be fully vetted before any Oklahoma water flows into Texas.
<br />What's going on right now, there's a lot of litigation going on between Texas political subdivisions and
<br />Oklahoma about whether they can keep all the water tied up in Oklahoma, and so far the Texas
<br />subdivisions are winning that litigation. And there are other cases that are nearly directly on point on this,
<br />where states have tried to tie up all their water because they didn't want it going to some other state, and
<br />the courts said, you know, this is interstate commerce, you can't do that. You can't just sit on that and
<br />hoard it. If you've got a use for it, that's fine, but you can't simply say we're not going to sell Oklahoma
<br />water in Texas. And I think that will be the outcome of that litigation. It may take several years to get
<br />there, but I think that's going to be the outcome. So once that's over with, there will be are going to be
<br />issues potentially about whether that water is compatible with the Texas receiving streams, etc.
<br />I'm just telling you all the legal issues that I know exist here. I'm not trying to make it sound like a horror
<br />story; these are simply the kind of things that lawyers work through in order to get permits and get legal
<br />issues resolved. It may take years, if not decades, to work throgh all of this, but I can tell you the
<br />metroplex -- and I'm not talking just about Irving -- the metroplex knows they have pressing needs for
<br />water, and they hadn't got a lot of choices -- they can either try to build Marvin Nichols, they can go get
<br />Toledo Bend water and pay all the energy costs of pumping it up hill, they can get that Oklahoma water,
<br />or they can get a deal with Boone Pickens to move water out of the Ogalalla Aquifer out here. Those are
<br />about the four big sources.
<br />So, it's a complex maze of legal issues, and I think the issue about the Oklahoma water is moving with
<br />a fair degree of rapidity right now, fairly quickly headed toward some resolution. I don't think it's out of the
<br />question that at some point in time, whether it's the Upper Trinity Water District, whether it's Irving,
<br />somebody is likely to get their hands on some of that Oklahoma water, and to the extent that the City of
<br />Paris has an interest in it, you have the potential to generate some revenue off of that, because Lake Pat
<br />Mayse is situated in a very ideal spot with regard to being able to be an intermediate transport point for
<br />that water.
<br />Question: you're saying you don't see any stumbling blocks as far as moving that water from Oklahoma
<br />into Texas?
<br />JM: No, that's not exactly what I said. I said there are permitting processes that are available to the
<br />State of Texas that could require those transfers of water being looked at under either water rights
<br />provisions, or bed and banks provisions, or water quality provisions. I don't have a crystal ball that's clear
<br />enough to tell you what those issues might be. Very seriously, big issues, an issue that is become of
<br />increasing interest to the state and to the federal government, is the species issue. If there was some
<br />non - native species, hydrilla or something that's in Oklahoma and they didn't want to have introduced in
<br />Texas, they could simply say, "1'm sorry. You have a problem. Until you get control of that problem, we're
<br />not taking your water." I'm not at all telling you that I know any such issues exist, but the issues are out
<br />there.
<br />Question: (inaudible)
<br />Yes, if the Corps of Engineers is going to do something that's a major federal action, they're going to go
<br />through the ? ?? process. They're going to either do an environment assessment or if it has to be a
<br />fullblown analysis they would do a ? ?? impact statement. So they have a separate process with regard to
<br />a Corps action. If y'all were to pursue the issue of raising the height of the dam, that probably would go
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