“Everybody respects Ed Fite and the work he has done,” said Cox. “He’s kind of Mr. Clean Water.”

The GRDA is an irritant to some lawmakers because of its semi-autonomous status as a non-appropriated, self-funded agency, and because it generates and markets electricity, which is seen as more properly a function of the private sector.

But the GRDA has a modern water lab and, at the urging of board members, has raised water quality as an issue.

Established in 1935 to oversee construction of the Pensacola Dam and Grand Lake, the GRDA controls water rights and water quality in the Grand River watershed. Absorbing the Scenic Rivers Commission would give it additional jurisdiction and responsibilities in the adjoining Illinois River watershed, and in southeastern Oklahoma.

Some southeastern Oklahomans see this as a beginning move in an attempt by the state to “ship” their water to Texas or western Oklahoma.

Also on Tuesday:

The House was in a generally dour mood on the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. Besides SB 1388, it voted down two other measures, forced another to be laid over and passed another only after the author agreed to strike the title, meaning it must be revised before final passage.