Texas just got even bigger after Lone Star State clawed back a corner of Oklahoma

Texas and Oklahoma officials reached an statement to redraw their authorities boundaries and instrumentality a sliver of onshore to the Lone Star State.

The caller bound adds 1.34 acres of onshore connected Lake Texoma - including the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) pump presumption - to Texas.

In exchange, an adjacent 1.34 acres southeast of the pump presumption was fixed to Oklahoma. 

Putting the h2o pump is connected Texas onshore volition guarantee the information and availability of astir 30 percent of the drinking h2o proviso for much than 2 cardinal radical successful that area, according to the Texas General Land Office. 

'This redrawn bound enactment volition guarantee that millions of northbound Texans' h2o comes from a unafraid root successful Texas,' said Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham.

Controversy implicit the 1.34 acres of onshore dates backmost to the 2000 redrawing of the Oklahoma/Texas authorities boundaries, NTMWD said.

The agency draws h2o from Lake Texoma done its Texoma pump station, built successful 1989, wrong the Texas borderline connected the southeast broadside of the lake. 

In 2000, during a redrawing of the authorities boundary, the pump was incorrectly placed connected the Oklahoma side.

Then successful 2009, zebra mussels were discovered successful the water - an invasive taxon with devastating economic, recreational, and biology impacts, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife.

This brought pumping operations to a halt and officials discovered the presumption was really connected the Oklahoma side, meaning that it violates the Lacey Act, which prevents the transport of invasive taxon crossed authorities lines.

A legislature objection to the Lacey Act allowed NTMWD to reconstruct pumping from Lake Texoma successful 2014. 

On October 30, the Red River Boundary Commission, composed of Texas and Oklahoma commissions, executed the Amended and Restated Texoma Area Boundary Agreement to close the bound issue.

'We're pleased we've reached an statement with our partners successful Oklahoma ensuring continued usage of our Lake Texoma pump presumption to supply h2o to our rapidly increasing work area,' said Jenna Covington, Executive Director and General Manager of North Texas Municipal Water District. 

'This statement secures a captious h2o proviso for the region, arsenic Lake Texoma accounts for astir 20 percent of NTMWD's permitted h2o supplies that service much than 2 cardinal North Texans.'