What was the government's goal in providing over $1 billion to Oklahoma rivers?

Oklahoma City connects to the water resources that it lacks but the southern part of the state has. Currently, the City of Oklahoma gets a significant portion of its imported water supply from Lake Atoka in Southeastern Oklahoma. The City owns and maintains a 60-inch, 100 mile long pipeline to serve its approximately 500,000 customers. However, as both the city expands and agriculture expands in the areas around the City, the water resources it receives from Lake Atoka will not be enough to satisfy long-term needs. As such, it is looking to a second resource, Sardis Lake to fulfill its supply needs. At a projected cost of $1 billion to build the pipeline, the infrastructure will not come cheap. But the people of Oklahoma City will not shell out a single dollar if they cannot secure the rights to Sardis Lake. The rights are at the center of contentious negotiations between Oklahoma City and a few Indian Tribes that also lay claim to the resources.