We don't see many movies filmed but we've seen several filmed on the level of Rudderless. It wasn't some big budget, Hollywood blockbuster. If it was something like the Avengers fighting over Lake Hefner I would absolutely believe the conspiracy theories. I just have a hard time believing our city leadership would make that type of decision based on an independent movie with a $5 million budget. Again, maybe I'm being super naive. That and there doesn't seem to be a shred of proof this actually happened.

We would need record breaking rain just to end the drought according to the NWS. Its possible that Hefner could be filled up(because of water from Canton and higher annual rainfall in this part of the state), but its highly unlikely that Canton will be anywhere close to normal levels this year. It would take a tropical storm going over us like Erin.

There was some good rain last year too that gave us some drought relief for a time then the drought came back in full force.

Well we finally got the record the record breaking rains two years later. Reading the comments during that time frame, its funny how people thought 3-4 inches from snow was going to be enough to completely fill the lakes and end the drought.

Hopefully the weather pattern will favor normal conditions over the next few years and Canton will finally make its way back to normal. We can only hope the new pipe lines from the south east are built and this won't be an issue the next time around.

Hefner was SEVENTEEN FEET below normal when the Canton transfer happened. FIVE FEET LOWER than it was this spring. The riverbed had just experienced the first rain in quite a while, with no more forecast, and the City was afraid that if they waited longer they would lose much of the Canton water due to absorption during the trip. And the transfer only brought Hefner up a few feet, and wasn't expected to help the recreational outlook at all. The fact that we got torrential rains later, which completely filled Hefner, was simply a lucky break. The decision to make the water transfer was not nearly so cavalier as it was made out to be.

Water released from Canton Lake on its way to Oklahoma City | News OK (http://newsok.com/water-released-from-canton-lake-on-its-way-to-oklahoma-city/article/3750383)

Well we finally got the record the record breaking rains two years later. Reading the comments during that time frame, its funny how people thought 3-4 inches from snow was going to be enough to completely fill the lakes and end the drought.

Hopefully the weather pattern will favor normal conditions over the next few years and Canton will finally make its way back to normal. We can only hope the new pipe lines from the south east are built and this won't be an issue the next time around.

Not to mention that Hefner should see a more reliable source of water in 2018 when treated water from the Deer Creek treatment plant will be piped back to Lake Hefner for reuse.

Not to mention that Hefner should see a more reliable source of water in 2018 when treated water from the Deer Creek treatment plant will be piped back to Lake Hefner for reuse.

That's not a sure thing yet, just something being talked about.

Hang on...we might end up drinking doo doo water?

It's a great source of protein!

That's not a sure thing yet, just something being talked about.

I hope it doesn't happen. The thought of drinking water with FECES in it disgust me. I'll be buying bottled water.

I hope it doesn't happen. The thought of drinking water with FECES in it disgust me. I'll be buying bottled water.

This is beyond ignorant, and you're also naive if you truly think bottled water is any better than what you'd be drinking from Lake Hefner.

I hope it doesn't happen. The thought of drinking water with FECES in it disgust me. I'll be buying bottled water.

Have you ever drank water in Colorado ? They use recycled wastewater.

Denver Water Recycling Plant treats wastewater for reuse - Progressive Engineer Magazine (http://www.progressiveengineer.com/features/denverwater.htm)

From https://twitter.com/davidfholt; 5 months ago compared to today:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CF8CLNUUIAAn9gw.jpg:large

I hope it doesn't happen. The thought of drinking water with FECES in it disgust me. I'll be buying bottled water.

You do know animals Pee and Poo in the lakes all the time right? They don't know Hefner and Draper are "Drinking water lakes." They take the dirty stuff out of the water when they treat it.

You do know animals Pee and Poo in the lakes all the time right? They don't know Hefner and Draper are "Drinking water lakes." They take the dirty stuff out of the water when they treat it.
Fish do it... animals do it.. People have pooped and peed in it. All sorts of things..lol..

problem is its a hell of a lot more expensive to pump water up hill than it is to let it flow naturally to you :)

One would think even a modest raise in water prices would enable us to install broader pumping infrastructure to the SE. A statewide pumping system between lakes would be pretty cool and probably a prudent Public Works investment.

Makes me want to watch Chinatown.

I hope it doesn't happen. The thought of drinking water with FECES in it disgust me. I'll be buying bottled water.

Educate yourself please. Where do you think wastewater treatment plant effluent goes now? It goes into creeks and streams that somewhere down the line end up back in treatment process for another municipalities drinking water system.

I'm on the fence about using effluent from WWTP to replenish the source water though, because other ecosystems and communities down stream rely on that effluent for their own needs as well.

"Toilet to tap" is used in California quite a bit. Again, this is not taking sewer effluent and treating it right away for drinking water, this is returning the effluent to the source we pull our water for treatment from.

Educate yourself please. Where do you think wastewater treatment plant effluent goes now? It goes into creeks and streams that somewhere down the line end up back in treatment process for another municipalities drinking water system.

I'm on the fence about using effluent from WWTP to replenish the source water though, because other ecosystems and communities down stream rely on that effluent for their own needs as well.

"Toilet to tap" is used in California quite a bit. Again, this is not taking sewer effluent and treating it right away for drinking water, this is returning the effluent to the source we pull our water for treatment from.

And even then, most Toilet to Tap systems use indirect methods, whereby the water is replenished through an intermediate source upstream of the normal supply. Wichita Falls, Texas has one of the few direct potable reuse systems. Wichita Falls, TX - Official Website - Public Works (http://www.wichitafallstx.gov/index.aspx?nid=19)

I think the technology is great, but I too want to ensure that we aren't harming downstream needs when taking effluent quantity into account.

Something I always hear in the civil engineering industry - treated wastewater effluent is often cleaner than the water taken out of lakes and streams for drinking water treatment.

Final word - the EPA, and its delegated authorities, maintain strict standards for drinking (tap) water; the Food & Drug Administration, however, maintains the standards for bottled water. The standards are different and drinking (tap) water is held to a higher standard of safety.

Bottle water is the biggest scam alive. Just google up some videos on how water is treated or what goes in to a large water treatment plant to get lake water to your tap. You'll have a greater appreciation for it and learn something in the process.

Bottled water might be a scam, but i drink the hell out of it too. It looks and smells a lot better than what comes out of area Lakes

Bottle water is the biggest scam alive. Just google up some videos on how water is treated or what goes in to a large water treatment plant to get lake water to your tap. You'll have a greater appreciation for it and learn something in the process.

As a huge fan of capitalism, my goal is too one day take something that people get for free, package it, and make a ton of money. It may be a scam but dang whoever popularized it, that guy is a genius.

I might try to sell used ice one day.

Guys I was joking. I know that treated wastewater is common as tapwater.

Hang on...we might end up drinking doo doo water?

There waste water would be treated there before it is released (which is generally cleaner than the river it will be released into), then another treatment process happens here. Side note there are plenty of other communities upstream on the North Canadian and from Lake Altus already, their waste water went somewhere, likely into it in into one of those two eventually.

Altus-Lugert is filling fast. Almost at 80%, with inflows of up to 10000 CFS!

Altus-Lugert is filling fast. Almost at 80%, with inflows of up to 10000 CFS!

Lets pump it to OKC! It appears that every lake in Ok doing pretty good except Canton and Foss even though they are way up from lows.

Lets pump it to OKC! It appears that every lake in Ok doing pretty good except Canton and Foss even though they are way up from lows.

Why do you keep coming here? If Hefner gets low, Canton is the first, cheapest place for OKC to reinforce its water supply.. and that's what's going to happen. Gritch and bitch all you want, the recreational use of the water at Canton Lake is its secondary purpose. OKC and Tulsa are the state's most important economic drivers and the state and cities have a policy of allocating the state's environmental resources where they can do the most good. In this case, we occasionally turn Canton into a mudhole in order to make life more comfortable for the 1.5 million residents of the OKC MSA.

That's not a sure thing yet, just something being talked about.

The plan was approved and rate hike implemented to pay for the infrastructure. It will be a few years down the road.


The Water Utilities Trust on Tuesday agreed to a five-year, $1 billion plan that includes work on a second pipeline to ship drinking water from southeast Oklahoma, steps to integrate separate parts of the water distribution system, and improvements to enable reuse of water from Oklahoma City’s Deer Creek wastewater treatment plant.

Treated wastewater would be of a consistently higher quality than the variable river water feeding Lake Hefner, said Marsha Slaughter, the utilities director.

North Canadian River water is of higher quality when rain falls and of lesser quality in dry weather, she said. “Everybody wants the water to be rain,” she said.

The city projects reuse of water from the Deer Creek plant would not begin before 2018.

Water circulated through the system would be treated at Lake Hefner, flow to customers, and then be flushed to the Deer Creek treatment plant.

There, the wastewater would be treated and returned to Lake Hefner via transmission pipes and the canal between Lake Overholser and Hefner.

Reuse figures into plan for Oklahoma City water | News OK (http://newsok.com/reuse-figures-into-plan-for-oklahoma-city-water/article/4984643)

Techincally all water is toilet to tap at some point. You know given the fact there is the same amount of water is on the earth today as there was a billion years ago. (Minus the small amount shipped out to space)

UPDATE: Altus-Lugert is now almost 90% full, less than 3 feet below normal, and still filling at approximately 7,500 CFS as of this morning. It will be full by tomorrow, with additional water going into the flood control pool. Get your boats ready. The Western Oklahoma lakes may be the only ones open to boating for a while.

I will be surprised if any of the eastern Oklahoma lakes are open to boating before Independence Day, and unless we have a very dry June, it may be a stretch that they're open by then.

That is really great news! I would like to drive out there at some point and enjoy the scenery. It has been years.

Sunday would be a good day. It's supposed to be sunny

UPDATE: Altus-Lugert is now almost 90% full, less than 3 feet below normal, and still filling at approximately 7,500 CFS as of this morning. It will be full by tomorrow, with additional water going into the flood control pool. Get your boats ready. The Western Oklahoma lakes may be the only ones open to boating for a while.

I will be surprised if any of the eastern Oklahoma lakes are open to boating before Independence Day, and unless we have a very dry June, it may be a stretch that they're open by then.

The "Death Ridge" should start building in next week which will put us in our summer time pattern. There are going to be more isolated popcorn storms in the late afternoon due to all this moisture in the ground. We are probably going to see a tropical system from the Gulf of Mexico this summer since we now don't need more rain. lol


BEGINNING SUNDAY OR MONDAY...UPPER-LEVEL RIDGING STARTS TO TAKE
HOLD...WHICH SHOULD PROVIDE SUMMER-LIKE WEATHER ACROSS OKLAHOMA
AND NORTH TEXAS. ASSUMING THIS HAPPENS...IT WILL FINALLY SHUT
DOWN THE ALMOST DAILY BARRAGES OF STORMS AND FLOODING
RAIN...LEAVING ONLY ISOLATED SHOWERS AND STORMS IN THE AFTERNOONS.
WITH THE VERY WET GROUND...THESE AFTERNOON SHOWERS/STORMS WILL BE
MORE COMMON THAN IN A NORMAL SUMMER PATTERN. SIMILARLY...AFTERNOON
TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN SOMEWHAT COOLER THAN WHAT WOULD OTHERWISE
BE EXPECTED...AS THE HEAT IS USED TO EVAPORATE WATER RATHER THAN
HEAT THE GROUND AND ADJACENT AIR.

UPDATE: Altus-Lugert is now almost 90% full, less than 3 feet below normal, and still filling at approximately 7,500 CFS as of this morning. It will be full by tomorrow, with additional water going into the flood control pool. Get your boats ready. The Western Oklahoma lakes may be the only ones open to boating for a while.

I will be surprised if any of the eastern Oklahoma lakes are open to boating before Independence Day, and unless we have a very dry June, it may be a stretch that they're open by then.

SW Oklahoma's scenery is vastly underrated, even among people native to Oklahoma. I had the opportunity to stay in the Quartz Mountain Lodge for a retreat a few years ago when the lake was somewhat full and it was fantastic. It felt like something you would see further out west than in OK. I'm thrilled the lake is finally filling back up.

I wish more people would give that area some love; the stop at Meers for burgers is worth the trip alone.

SW Oklahoma's scenery is vastly underrated, even among people native to Oklahoma. I had the opportunity to stay in the Quartz Mountain Lodge for a retreat a few years ago when the lake was somewhat full and it was fantastic. It felt like something you would see further out west than in OK. I'm thrilled the lake is finally filling back up.

I wish more people would give that area some love; the stop at Meers for burgers is worth the trip alone.

I agree. Here are a few pics I took a few years ago at the Wichita Wildlife Refuge

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I love Western Oklahoma. I love Eastern Oklahoma, too. I love Southern Oklahoma. The only part I'm not crazy about is northern Oklahoma West of Ponca City.

If you want to see beauty, go hike through the Wichitas this weekend. There are waterfalls everywhere and all of the streams are rapidly flowing. Wildflowers everywhere. It's a fabulous place.

Last lodge stay for us was a bit over 3 years back. Lake at Quartz was horridly low then. Saw a photo from this morning that really made me smile to see the water up so well. Difference in April level and now is major major.

You want to see how happy I am with all this rain?

After 3 years and being as much as 15 feet low... I was so happy to see my pond full that I walked on water.

10856

I agree. Here are a few pics I took a few years ago at the Wichita Wildlife Refuge

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Great shots! Totally in love with that second photo.

I love Western Oklahoma. I love Eastern Oklahoma, too. I love Southern Oklahoma. The only part I'm not crazy about is northern Oklahoma West of Ponca City.
It’s all in the eye of the beholder….That area of north central Oklahoma is Oklahoma’s most productive farm ground.

Just seems a bit appropriate for this thread.

https://scontent-dfw1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/v/t1.0-9/11391466_10205880886614269_535843140227283783_n.jp g?oh=e605a019686389a341db887af68c68de&oe=55F40620

And that's an indoor cat.

Whole lotta indoorsy kitties getting their lil' paws wet these days.

C'mon week of sunshine!

Who were the bright minds that decided on getting water from Canton? Seems like the arid parts of the state may not have much to spare.

Who were the bright minds that decided on getting water from Canton? Seems like the arid parts of the state may not have much to spare.

UnclePete,
I'm not sure if you are questioning the wisdom from recent years or the whole concept. Just to address the history, Enid didn't want the storage rights so OKC signed a contract with the Corps of Engineers for the water. As far as recent withdrawals, that was addressed in previous posts, and I believe Ubanized explained it pretty well in post 1926.
C. T.

Who were the bright minds that decided on getting water from Canton? Seems like the arid parts of the state may not have much to spare.

Freaking idiots, how dare they take something that belongs to them.

I think UnclePetes comment was in regards to the origin of the lake, but maybe not.

Who were the bright minds that decided on getting water from Canton? Seems like the arid parts of the state may not have much to spare.

I don't know about Canton, but a lot of the lakes also act as flood control. So its cheaper to also use it to get water.

It was already mostly established in this thread that Canton was originally built primarily for flood control. The reservoir usage and recreational usages were apparently incidental, and a bonus.

Not Hefner, but saw this on fb today re the lake and quartz mountain resort north of Altus, as posted by Meteorologist Matt Mahler.


Left is March 6, 2015 and Right is June 4, 2015

https://scontent-dfw1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/v/t1.0-9/11427196_829236683837035_4126927928026578218_n.jpg ?oh=43c6badf2e0307823213c464bf78687b&oe=55EA3D4B

I've walked across that bridge before. It's real cool.

I've walked across that bridge before. It's real cool.

I was told that Altus (sw ok) has lifted their water restrictions to level one which is basically no restriction.

I guess nothing was learned over the past years. They should at least go to a mandatory every other day or something.

I was told that Altus (sw ok) has lifted their water restrictions to level one which is basically no restriction.

I guess nothing was learned over the past years. They should at least go to a mandatory every other day or something.

The lake is getting into the flood zone, their river is running high and there is more above average rain predicted in the next few weeks, so this is the time when some easing can be done on restrictions. Another month or two when Oklahoma is out of our normal rainy season is when it should start being looked at tightening back up.

Too bad this cant go to fill Optima out in the panhandle. I think i read its never been filled

Too bad this cant go to fill Optima out in the panhandle. I think i read its never been filled

Optima can never be filled because the Corps of Engineers made some kind of mistake when building that lake--something to do with the water table being waaaay lower than the level the lake sits.

I read somewhere that the Corps calculated Optima based on the conditions of the time - which factored the condition of the aquifer below - but that the completion of the lake coincided with the emergence of large-scale commercial farms in the area which all tapped and essentially permanently lowered the aquifer.

I read somewhere that the Corps calculated Optima based on the conditions of the time - which factored the condition of the aquifer below - but that the completion of the lake coincided with the emergence of large-scale commercial farms in the area which all tapped and essentially permanently lowered the aquifer.

If in the area means all the way to at least Amarillo, TX that is certainly a heavy part of it. Granted the time between the original study/design and getting funding was probably at least a decade or more likely two. Though also it has been affected by land owners retaining more rain water on their property (thus never reaching the river) and cities near the river tapping the aquifer as well.

Another thing I read about Lake Meredith (a large lake near Amarillo on the river, or more accurately use to be), is that their regional rain pattern seems to have shifted somewhat and for the last few decades (long before this drought) it's catchment area has not been getting as much as it use to, even while other parts nearby have not been nearly as far off.

Looks like Canton lake is doing real good. Plenty of water there just in case Hefner needs a drink.

WOW!

Canton's up 22000+ Acre Feet in the last 36 hours! And nearly ALL of that is from run-off, barely any precipitation up there at all.

This increase didn't just happen over the last couple of days. The reporting of the water level has been incorrect for a few weeks. The Canton Lake Association Facebook page explained the issue with a post on 6/3. Here's the url.
https://www.facebook.com/CantonLakeAssociation?fref=ts

Raining like crazy right now directly over the lake and the watershed. Fairly slow moving storm too. If they are only 6' down due to the stuck sensor, they'll be that much closer tonight. Anyone going out there this weekend that can post some pics?

We had not been by Hefner in awhile and it looked good yesterday. Whatever the sport with the surfboard and wing foil is called those guys were all over that point and grabbing some serious air.