OKC White Water Park

Power and Politics - Mary Fallin & Oil Demand

2006-08-09T13:06:00.000-07:00

How does Ms. Fallin plan to address our ‘addiction to oil’? Like a pusher might. She endorses an energy bill that is simply supply-side oriented. Only 10% of her energy platform is dedicated to conservation, and 36% of that is dedicated to corporate tax breaks. Looking at traditional laws of supply and demand, she believes we need to focus 90% on supply and 10% on demand. Even though she acknowledges the Earth’s oil supply is running our, Ms. Fallin focuses the majority of her energy plan on supporting big oil corporations. I believe the majority of the 5th district voters would rather not be kept captive by large oil and automobile corporations who have incredible influence on our countries oil demands, and financial incentive not to reduce oil demand.

Here is what she proposes:
‘Some conservation will occur naturally as prices remain high (which is still good for big corporations). However we should explore new incentives to promote further conservation. These incentives might take the form of tax credits for companies and individuals who assist organizations that help the disadvantaged with winterization of their homes.’

Although ‘America imports over 60% of its oil from foreign countries’, we don’t have a power problem here, we have a POLICTICAL problem. I agree with Ms. Fallin, who states, ‘this is a serious national security issue that must be addressed.’ This is why we must emphasize the things we can control; OIL DEMAND.

She believes ‘environmental extremists’ have placed burdensome restrictions on oil and gas producers. I believe that even if we allow unregulated drilling anywhere large corporations wanted to go, it wouldn’t address the long term problem that we will continue to face. ‘Peak Oil’, or the diminishing supply of oil, is a long-term problem that we must address now.

Our country and Oklahoma has an opportunity and a moral obligation to be a leader by reducing oil demand. By doing so, we’ll decrease or dependence on the Middle East, and improve our national security and economy.

I propose that we do so by reinvesting $1 billion of our tax dollars from a budgets of the Department of Defense to research and development of alternative vehicles. Furthermore, I would propose tax credits for auto manufactures that is proportional to the fuel economy of the vehicles they produce. The less oil demand the vehicle requires the bigger the tax credit. GM could reopen it’s Oklahoma City plants and build fuel efficient SUVs.

I believe that ‘winterizing’ homes is a good start, but once again I would propose tax credits for homeowners and builders who took measures to reduce energy demands.

Only with leadership that has a vision and focus on reducing demand of foreign oil can we prepare Oklahoma for the ‘Peak Oil’ economy, increase national security, and help Oklahoma consumers. Please support my candidacy.

Tulsa Wave Improvements Scheduled

2005-11-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

Good News, Good News...

Hi All,
A big thanks is owed to Dave Reid, and the folks at Public Service of Oklahoma for the work they've done on making the "World Renowned" Tulsa Wave even better. Construction is scheduled to begin this month to improve access to the wave. If you're a boater in Oklahoma and plan on making it to Tulsa, please send a brief email to Stan Whiteford, sawhiteford"at"aep.com, of PSO telling him you appreciate PSO's cooperation in this project.

View the press release here:
http://www.psoklahoma.com/news/releases/viewrelease.asp?releaseID=203

Signatures Needed

2005-09-14T22:10:00.000-07:00

Please take a few minutes to fill out our online petition, to show your support for this project.

September 27 meeting with River Trust

2005-08-31T14:11:00.000-07:00

As we push forward with a whitewater park in OKC this is the latest news. We met today with the Directors of Water Resources (the people who control Lake Overholser), and Public Works (the people that control the downtown damns). As we had thought, there is no chance for scheduled release on the N. Canadian (the Okayaklahoma river!) out of Overholser for recreation purposes. They just don’t have enough water, and there is no power generation. So any features that will be built are either going to depend on normal flows as they are now. There was no stated opposition to having REP do a study, so we will plan on presenting our proposal before the river trust September 27.

Links to a few OKC whitewater videos...enjoy

2005-08-31T11:13:00.000-07:00

Evil Otter Rapid:

Allison's first combat roll, good job:

Stillwater Creek, nice Class II:

My favorite super secret spot:

oKAYAKlahoma...where the rivers run under ground

2005-08-15T10:18:00.000-07:00

Scouted maybe ready to run is this 150yd of culvert in the NW section of town. This is Edgmere Creek which begins somewhere under OKC. It first appears in a park in a residential neighborhood. Should be a fun run to the Deep Fork.

By the way I've 2 confirmed surf ways in OKC after 1 inch of rain. Do your rain dance

PLAY SPOT FOUND!!!! - 6 Foot Drop over 100 Ft

2005-08-15T09:55:00.000-07:00

Good news for the OKC whitewater community. All 10 of us! There is a prime location for a sweet spot, and all it should take is some manual labor. I'm posting the pictures that show you the spot dry and after about 3/4 in. of rain. There is slab concrete which can be moved into place with a little muscle, and luckily our ancestors realized that we can use tools, so in the tradition of evolved cromags, we'll use some come-alongs, chains, and pry-bars to position the rock. It's a pool drop rapid, but gets another 20ft. higher (according to the trash in the trees). We'll have to investigate at higher water levels.

Horton's Hole Hazards

2005-08-07T08:03:00.000-07:00

So this is one of the biggest Hazards seen on the banks of Horton's Hole. This guy was on the other side of the river when we arrived. He was attempting to take off his clothes to go for a swim. But whatever drugs he was on at the time didn't allow him the coordination to get them off. So he pulls up his pants and jumped in for a swim. I pasid him a visit as he swirled around in the eddie, like a wet rat. He was able to pull him self out eventually, and shortly later tried to back his Lincoln Town cart up this hill (with rear wheel drive). Needless to say it wasn't going anywhere. I was thinking, this hole could use an addtional eddie river right, so I began to hope. Instead of follwing my prompts to "drive through" he waited until a family of mexican folks showed up to help tow the car out. I still held out hope for a new eddie while 3 mexicans took up surfing stances on the trunk of the car as Mr. River Rat tried to back the car out.

Meeting Minutes 8-4

2005-08-04T09:19:00.000-07:00

HI ALL,

At Pat Downes request we met with John Rhodes (Director of OKC Public Works) today. Basically we wanted to find out if there was any clear cut reason why this project can't proceed. Fortunately, there are none. But there are some challenges ahead. So, we'll be working with Pat to get the materials necessary for a September River Trust meeting. There, we will:

- present the reasons to have REP (wwparks.com) to compose a feasibility study

- provide half of the funds required to hire REP (approx. $3500)—make your contributions

- present a petition of paddlers in the area who want this project to happen

I found out some interesting information about the 2 days “Horton’s Hole” was running this summer. The level of the pond created by the May Ave. (Damn 3) was lowered for work that was being done at the Dell site. Therefore, when they were filling it back up at 2000+CFS there was a pour over. Normally Damn 3 maintains a higher water level at “Horton’s Hole” and it is flat water all the way to Overholser. This higher level is necessary for the Water Taxi’s that city will be operating starting in 07’. This seems to me to create an added engineering challenge, but that’s why we will pay the big bucks for the smart people to rub their chins and such.

We will next meet with the Director of Water Resources to discuss the viability of scheduled Overholser dam releases if this project were to be built.

On another OKC whitewater potential note: the Deep Fork river (creek) that runs through the city has a lot of good potential sites for fun (and death if we’re not careful). Has anyone heard about people running this? I need some help clearing strainers, and rebar. If you have a chain saw, or are willing to help clear out the river bed in a few spots let me know.

I’ve attached a photo of a 4 foot pour over just below Western Ave.

Show me the money

2005-07-13T07:01:00.000-07:00

We’re off to a great start all! The Boathouse foundation is willing to act as a vehicle for collecting donations. They are a non-profit and any donation is tax deductible. We need about $4000, and we are already half there. So whatever you can afford is greatly appreciated. Send checks with a memo attached stating it’s for the OKC White Water Park Fund to:
Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation
C/O Mike Knopp, Executive DirectorPO Box 513Oklahoma City, OK 73101
You can reach Mike at http://www.chesapeakeboathouse.org/contactus.html
ACA instructor Terry Demoe, and I are teaching kayaking classes; the money we raise will go towards the fund. So contact one of us for more info. Matt 405-370-9543

7/8/05 Pat Downes Meeting Minutes

2005-07-07T12:05:00.000-07:00

July 8, 2005
OKC White Water Park – Meeting Minutes
Attendance:
Matthew Woodson
Amanda Alewine
Kirby Junge
Pat Downes, Oklahoma River Trust

We met today to discuss the steps needed to get a white water park built in OKC. Item discussed:

· Mr. Downes strongly suggest that when we decide to present this idea to the full Oklahoma River Trust, which meets monthly, we have two things:
o $3,250 - $4,000 of the $6,500 fee charged by REP to do a feasibility study
o Lists of people and organizations which we use the facility, the more the better
· Mr. Downes believes that the best site for a white water park would be at “Horton’s Hole” which is located between Meridian and Macarthur. This would avoid possible conflicts with the Indian center, and that there is nothing there yet. Mr. Woodson believes that this site would also require a lower construction cost
· There are other groups, Disc (Frisbee) Golf, and remote control boaters who are interested using the city property, which is just north of “Horton’s Hole”; Mr. Woodson will make contact with group to discuss possibilities of working together
· To assist with raising funds, Mike Knopp, of the Boat House, a 501C3, will inquire about using their organization as a way to make contributions tax deducible. They would then provide the check to City when we present the proposal
· American Whitewater has been contacted and is willing to forward a request from us to it’s members. We will ask people to give us their contact information, state that they would most likely visit a whitewater park in OKC, ask for financial contributions. Mr. Woodson will also contact ACA and ACC
· A 501C3 probably should be formed, or use an existing one, which will concentrate it’s efforts on raising funds for construction of a park
· Prior to presenting before the River Trust we will need to provide Mr. Downes with background information. This information will be compiled by Mr. Junge
· OKC has an engineering firm “on-call” which could expedite the process of hiring REP, this engineering firm will need to be contracted by the city (to avoid a several month bidding process) and act as administrator, they will then hire REP
· The cities liability in a whitewater park accident is negated by a State law, same as accidents taking place at the skate park
· Boat registration is an issue that will need to be addressed at the State level

All ideas are welcome.