Water conference attendees learn more about Stockton Lake reallocation 

For the first time in 15 years of hosting the Southwest Missouri Regional Water Conference, host Southwest Missouri Water can talk about having a newly approved water source, said organizer and SWMO Water Executive Director Roddy Rogers. 

In January, SWMO Water – an organization made up of the Southwest Missouri Joint Municipal Water Utility Commission and the Tri-State Water Resource Coalition that serves16 counties – signed a partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to reallocate a portion of Stockton Lake for drinking and industrial water supplies. Securing additional water sources is the mission of SWMO Water, which has been working on attaining the allocation since its formation in 2003 and its application to the Army Corps in 2007. 

The reallocation, appropriated from its formerly approved uses in areas like hydroelectric power and flood control, affects some 95,000 acre-feet of Stockton Lake, Rogers said, adding that this is roughly equivalent to what the lake loses each year from evaporation. An acre-foot is equivalent to about 325,000 gallons, according to SWMO Water data. 

“It takes a long time to implement a water project,” he said. “If you wait until you need it, it’s a little like buying a life insurance policy when you’re already dead.” 

Participants in the conference, numbering about 140, included engineers, regulatory professionals, utility managers, communications people and more, Rogers said. The conference was held at Missouri State University’s Darr Agricultural Center, and MSU and the Efactory were co-sponsors. 

“Anybody that’s got anything to do with water was there,” he said. “We’re the choir, but it’s good to get the choir together.” 

Rogers opened the conference with remarks on the conference theme, “Reliable Water in an Unreliable World,” which he recapped in an interview in the evening after the event. 

“Having a reliable water source results in a more reliable world,” he said. “We’re 70% water. Everything we do depends on it.” 

In places with an absence of water, Rogers said, the entire day revolves around attaining it. It is the first and most important priority, and it transcends terrorism, corruption and natural disaster. 

“We need it just as badly, but we’re not aware of it,” he said. “We’re so used to turning on the faucet and it’s there, but the ones that need it the most are aware of its importance.” 

Rogers shared some statistics, noting that if water is shut down for just one day in the United States, the cost to the economy would be approximately $43.5 billion – a number cited in a 2023 report from the U.S. Water Alliance. 

Water has an impact of trillions of dollars on the gross domestic product every year, Rogers said, with about 60% of GDP reliant on it. 

A 2024 report from CDP, the nonprofit that runs an independent environmental disclosure system for business and industry, found $77 billion is under threat due to water risk in supply chains, with almost $7 billion at immediate risk. Roughly half of CDP’s 3,200 survey respondents said they are engaging their supply chain on water risks by inserting water requirements into supplier contracts, collecting water data or collaborating on innovation. 

Rogers, formerly manager of the water department for City Utilities of Springfield, said when businesses evaluate a site for new development, a question about ready access to a reliable water source is one of the first they ask. 

The reallocation from Stockton Lake provides an important piece of that puzzle, he said. 

He added that building the infrastructure to move the water – 30% of which will go to CU – is now in the planning stages. At best, he said, the project is 10 years out for design and construction, but probably more like 15-20 years. 

“That’s a challenge solvable with money,” he said of infrastructure. “Water is not. If it takes 20-30 years to get it, you can’t solve that with money. You’ve got to have a water source in place first.” 

He said the reallocation from Stockton Lake is estimated to cost $27 million, and a request has been placed with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to help fund it. 

Even without DNR funding, the water is being attained at pennies for the dollar compared to what municipalities are paying in the Western U.S., he said. There, the cost is about $6,000 per acre-foot, he said – and if that cost were applied to the Stockton Lake allocation, the cost would be about a half-billion dollars. 

Rogers said water is going to be increasingly challenging in the coming years, and many sectors depend on it. 

“Hydropower, agriculture, drinking water – we all need it, and we need to collaborate and work together for such a precious resource,” he said.