What now?

What happens when your plan to supply water for millions of people hinges on suing your neighboring state, and you lose?

Ask the Tarrant Regional Water District.
Ask them how much that cost YOU.

Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The Tarrant Regional Water District suffered another blow in its lengthy legal battle to obtain water from Oklahoma on Wednesday as the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that has the little-known Red River Compact protects the Sooner State from any claims on its surface water.

"It's disappointing," said Tarrant Regional's General Manager Jim Oliver who said the water district will continue to explore its options. The water district could ask for a rehearing before the 10th Circuit, file a writ with the Supreme Court or simply accept the court's decision.

In its ruling, the 10th Circuit said "we hold that the Red River Compact insulates Oklahoma water statutes" from a legal challenge.

At the same time, the district sued the Oklahoma Water Resources Board and the Oklahoma Water Conservation Storage Commission to keep its permit applications from being dismissed while the matter was in court.

In July 2010, an Oklahoma federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, but the water district appealed the case to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.