They did have two releases over the past couple days though. At least that what it was showing yesterday. Don't understand why they would so maybe that was a mistake on the site?

Possibly maintenance to clear parts of the channel, access part of gates or verify operation who knows. Hefner is slightly into the flood stage and Overholser is nearly full, ones further downstream are in similar condition, so the water is certainly not needed here.

Possibly maintenance to clear parts of the channel, access part of gates or verify operation who knows. Hefner is slightly into the flood stage and Overholser is nearly full, ones further downstream are in similar condition, so the water is certainly not needed here.

I noticed Canton is officially full and any increase now is in the flood pool.

I noticed Canton is officially full and any increase now is in the flood pool.

I have been watching this and they have had several releases already. They released water before the lake was 100% full.

I have been watching this and they have had several releases already. They released water before the lake was 100% full.

There are also time limits by law on how long water can be retained before a rough equivalent is to be released downstream, I think it is like one year. A few years ago it was highlighted how stupid parts of that are, where they were forced to release large amounts of water from an area that was in drought into an area that was already so flooded that water was breaching into populated areas of cities with heavy rain forecasted for days, making the flooding in cities worse.

GUYMON, Okla. (KVII) — For the first time in decades, the Beaver River is now flowing near Guymon.

The river is flowing after heavy rainfall over the weekend. Extreme flooding was reported in the area following 2 days of intense rain.

Officials said they believe the amount of water flowing through the Beaver River is the most documented in at least 36 years.

Texas County was declared a disaster area following the weekend's severe weather. Flooding caused the closure of several roads throughout the area.


Beaver River flows for first time in decades near Guymon | KOKH (http://okcfox.com/news/local/beaver-river-flows-for-first-time-in-decades-near-guymon)

So maybe there is some hope for poor Lake(less) Optima ???

So maybe there is some hope for poor Lake(less) Optima ???

After another 30 storms maybe?

[QUOTE=gopokes88;950762]After another 30 storms maybe?[/QUOTE

I can't even find a water level reading for Lake Optima. I assume most of that water in the Beaver Creek video dumped into the lake. You just never know,it may fill up at some point in the future and make the people of Guymon' dreams come true.

Canton Lake well into flood control area now.

After another 30 storms maybe?

I can't even find a water level reading for Lake Optima. I assume most of that water in the Beaver Creek video dumped into the lake. You just never know,it may fill up at some point in the future and make the people of Guymon' dreams come true.

It might but the sheer amount of rain that's going to take is 1000 year flood amounts.

Panhandle Rains Turning Dust Bowl Back Into Lake | NewsOK.com (http://m.newsok.com/article/2543175)

That article is 20 years old same problem back then.

[QUOTE=gopokes88;951169]It might but the sheer amount of rain that's going to take is 1000 year flood amounts.

Panhandle Rains Turning Dust Bowl Back Into Lake | NewsOK.com (http://m.newsok.com/article/2543175)

That article is 20 years old same problem back then.[/QUOTE

Been watching the canton lake activity over the last week and they have been constantly releasing water to keep the lake at normal levels. So now my attention grows towards lake Optima. I have seen that they have been getting alot of rain in that area and was wondering if any one knows how to track the water level there. I have googled and googled but can't seem to find any info on this lakes level. I assume it's still considered a lake so there should be someone that keeps up with the level,right? I aasume if it's a lake it must have fish in it but I don't see any fishing reports or anything. It's like a ghost lake or something. The lake that never was I guess.

It might but the sheer amount of rain that's going to take is 1000 year flood amounts.

Panhandle Rains Turning Dust Bowl Back Into Lake | NewsOK.com (http://m.newsok.com/article/2543175)

That article is 20 years old same problem back then.

Been watching the canton lake activity over the last week and they have been constantly releasing water to keep the lake at normal levels. So now my attention grows towards lake Optima. I have seen that they have been getting alot of rain in that area and was wondering if any one knows how to track the water level there. I have googled and googled but can't seem to find any info on this lakes level. I assume it's still considered a lake so there should be someone that keeps up with the level,right? I aasume if it's a lake it must have fish in it but I don't see any fishing reports or anything. It's like a ghost lake or something. The lake that never was I guess.

It seems like a year or two ago there was some mumbling about possibly taking down the dam so it did not have to be maintained anymore but doubt they have gotten to it if that was even approved.

Optima is dead. Will stay dead and short of a bibical flood will never fill. The river that feeds it was fed by the aquifer, the aquifers level dropped and the river dried up. There is no lake just a big dusty hole in the ground.

12581

http://kfor.com/2014/11/18/the-lake-that-wasnt-kfor-crews-take-a-deeper-look-into-the-history-of-optima-lake/

but maybe we should keep the dam so the aquifer gets refilled, then maybe eventually the lake will establish? may take decades but we could kill two birds with one dam here.

but maybe we should keep the dam so the aquifer gets refilled, then maybe eventually the lake will establish? may take decades but we could kill two birds with one dam here.
Wouldn't count on it.

"Depletion is accelerating, with 2% lost between 2001 and 2009 alone. Once depleted, the aquifer will take over 6,000 years to replenish naturally through rainfall."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogallala_Aquifer

Wouldn't count on it.

"Depletion is accelerating, with 2% lost between 2001 and 2009 alone. Once depleted, the aquifer will take over 6,000 years to replenish naturally through rainfall."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogallala_Aquifer

What are you talking about? We can infinitely pull resources from the planet and never run out.

What are you talking about? We can infinitely pull resources from the planet and never run out.
I mean we can and it will replenish, just takes 6,000 years. Matter isn't created or destroyed only transformed

I mean we can and it will replenish, just takes 6,000 years. Matter isn't created or destroyed only transformed

Lake Optima getting dumped on right now. Will it make any difference or is this lake too far gone?

When you look at maps Lake OPTIMA shows up.

Been watching Canton lake and it appears they have been releasing water over the last month to keep levels just above full.

Lake Optima getting dumped on right now. Will it make any difference or is this lake too far gone?

When you look at maps Lake OPTIMA shows up.

Been watching Canton lake and it appears they have been releasing water over the last month to keep levels just above full.

The river that feeds optima is dry. It was fed by the aquifer but the levels dropped. The only thing feeding optima is rainfall. That's it and that area doesn't get enough rain to make any difference. It might be a mud hole for a while but eventually it'll dry back up.

Short of western Oklahomas weather changing to get 40 inches a year, optima is dead. Not mostly dead, dead dead.

Looks like their maybe some light at the end of the tunnel.

http://newsok.com/officials-reveal-details-of-historic-water-rights-agreement/article/5513458

40 years is the average for these type of lawsuits to last, I wonder what the longest one has been

Might be a decent idea sometime soon to dump 15k acre feet from Canton

Might be a decent idea sometime soon to dump 15k acre feet from Canton

Na. They'll wait till the end of spring. Rain hits just right and it will fill right up.

I go by the lake several times a day. It is lower but nowhere near where it was the last time a water release was required.

The City has outgrown Lake Hefner. It can be full and within a short time without rain it's down quite a bit. Just too many customers drawing water from the small lake. But with spring coming it should fill up without having to tap Canton.

The City has outgrown Lake Hefner. It can be full and within a short time without rain it's down quite a bit. Just too many customers drawing water from the small lake. But with spring coming it should fill up without having to tap Canton.

Good thing Oklahoma City Water Utilities Trust has planned for that

The City has outgrown Lake Hefner. It can be full and within a short time without rain it's down quite a bit. Just too many customers drawing water from the small lake. But with spring coming it should fill up without having to tap Canton.

There is nothing wrong with the size of Hefner. Its just a matter of waiting for additional pipelines to be built to keep it filled constantly and always full.

I go by the lake several times a day. It is lower but nowhere near where it was the last time a water release was required.

Storage in Hefner right now is between 35 and 40% greater than the last OKC-driven release from Canton in early 2013. However, it's only between 20 and 25% greater than the Canton release in October 2011. We were also relatively close to a justifiable release into Hefner in early 2015, but Canton was so depleted from the 2013 release and the multi-year drought that the option to release wasn't feasible.

Recent rains in the N. Canadian watershed will help the situation at Hefner to some extent. Additionally, the Canton conservation pool is now full and so it is possible that additional rains in NW Oklahoma can be "passed through" via typical flood control/management releases from Canton. I would characterize the current situation at Hefner as "concerning" but not "critical". Normal to above-normal spring rains will be required to bring Hefner back to normal. If the spring and early summer rains fail, I would expect a release from Canton in the fall once the risk of loss due to evaporation decreases.

(all this is personal opinion, and is not the opinion of my employer or any sort of scientific determination :-))

^Thanks for the info

I have a boat out on lake hefner so I pay close attention to the water levels. The USGS provides real time stats on a number of waterways. Lake level is measured in feet above sea level. https://waterdata.usgs.gov/ok/nwis/uv?site_no=07159550

In late 2013 the water level dropped to 1189 and I pulled my boat out because the keel was beginning to touch bottom in my slip. The water continued to fall to around 1185 (going by memory) before we got spring rains. You could literally walk across the city marina without getting your knees wet. I thought "maybe we'll get some rain in the spring. Hopefully enough to justify putting the boat back in the water. But I bet it's empty again by July."

I could not have been more wrong. We got record rainfall in the spring of 2014 and the lake stayed near full until the middle of 2016. I was hoping we would get some rain in September and October to fill it back up but we didn't get any significant rainfall. Back in November we had a nice warm sunny Saturday and the lake had dropped down to about 1191 and I thought "I think I'd rather choose to pull the boat out on a nice day like today rather than be forced to pull it out on some cold rainy day in January." But we've gotten just enough rain to keep the lake just above 1189 so with any luck we'll get some nice rain in March and April to get the lake filled up again.

There is nothing wrong with the size of Hefner. Its just a matter of waiting for additional pipelines to be built to keep it filled constantly and always full.

No there is nothing wrong with the size it's just a small lake. Once they get the pipeline they will be able to keep the lake at desired levels and all is good. But it's a small lake and will drain pretty quick without a restock from Canton during long periods between significant rains.Canton actually had some water in the flood control stage the other day. I haven't looked in a couple days to see if they have released it. But there was enough that they could release some to Hefner without making much of a dent in Canton since the watershed was saturated.

No there is nothing wrong with the size it's just a small lake. Once they get the pipeline they will be able to keep the lake at desired levels and all is good. But it's a small lake and will drain pretty quick without a restock from Canton during long periods between significant rains.Canton actually had some water in the flood control stage the other day. I haven't looked in a couple days to see if they have released it. But there was enough that they could release some to Hefner without making much of a dent in Canton since the watershed was saturated.

Yeah, I would say it will be difficult to make it look "pretty" for long periods of time without having water always streaming in from the west until pipelines from the east are built. Although, this year the east has been dryer. So having two options will be nice.

No there is nothing wrong with the size it's just a small lake. Once they get the pipeline they will be able to keep the lake at desired levels and all is good. But it's a small lake and will drain pretty quick without a restock from Canton during long periods between significant rains.Canton actually had some water in the flood control stage the other day. I haven't looked in a couple days to see if they have released it. But there was enough that they could release some to Hefner without making much of a dent in Canton since the watershed was saturated.

No, there have been no releases from Canton and will not be without additional substantial rain. Canton is currently in the flood pool, but that water storage is -- at least as of right now -- minuscule and would not have a significant impact on Hefner even if it were to be released from the Canton dam. Inflow into Canton during the last rain event was light, because most of Canton's contributing area is in far NW Oklahoma and the northern third of the OK/TX panhandles, areas that did not see a lot of rain recently.

http://www.swt-wc.usace.army.mil/CANT.lakepage.html

Rifles is probably right. Canton is only like 6" above normal, most of that would get soaked up on its way.

They could release if they wanted to, but water levels are nowhere near critical and spring rains are hopefully coming.
Plus Robert Redford isn't currently filming a movie at the lake.:p

Hefner will prob be full soon as it's getting dumped on tonight as well as Canton and Overholster.

Hefner will prob be full soon as it's getting dumped on tonight as well as Canton and Overholster.

OKC received less than 2 inches of rain in the last round. While that is extremely nice for this time of year, it will come nowhere near filling up Hefner.

Hefner will prob be full soon as it's getting dumped on tonight as well as Canton and Overholster.

It also largely missed Canton's catchment area, not entirely but little enough it likely just got absorbed by the ground it hit.

The 16 day out GFS shows total precip for central/western Oklahoma at less than a inch. Let's hope for a wet late March and April.

Was up by Lake Hefner on Wednesday for the first time in a couple of months. From the Parkway, it looked like the Lake was brim full. Anyone know what is the status of Canton since a lot of rain has fallen?

Was up by Lake Hefner on Wednesday for the first time in a couple of months. From the Parkway, it looked like the Lake was brim full. Anyone know what is the status of Canton since a lot of rain has fallen?


Just over normal level. They were releasing water up until this morning.

We're sending water downriver from Overholser.

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?07241000

Was up by Lake Hefner on Wednesday for the first time in a couple of months. From the Parkway, it looked like the Lake was brim full. Anyone know what is the status of Canton since a lot of rain has fallen?

They have been hovering around the normal reserve pool at full for the last year, occasionally a bit into the flood pool

It appears they don't let Canton get much above full before they release water. I assume they don't want much in the flood pool because I never see more than .05% when I check. They release water quite often to keep it right at the full level.

I'm guessing the flood pool is managed for flood control where they only retain water in it when there's already too much water down stream to send more. Flood control is one of the primary reasons Canton was built. The flood pool is there to impound water when there is a lot of rainfall both up and down stream and other lakes downstream are full.

I'm guessing the flood pool is managed for flood control where they only retain water in it when there's already too much water down stream to send more. Flood control is one of the primary reasons Canton was built. The flood pool is there to impound water when there is a lot of rainfall both up and down stream and other lakes downstream are full.

Exactly. It's a FLOOD pool. The entire point of it is too reduce the damage from floods. Leaving water in the flood pool defeats its purpose.

Haven't heard much about this lately.

Haven't heard much about this lately.

I thought about this thread a few months back.

Is Canton back to full as well?

is the lake over by Clinton full again?

I thought about this thread a few months back.

Is Canton back to full as well?

is the lake over by Clinton full again?

About 2 feet above where it should be.

Bump - wonder if they're considering a release if we get any rains this week? If I recall, last time we pulled from Canton we did it during an inopportune time and lost a chunk of water to the riverbed because we released during a dry time when Lake Hefner was already super low.

Bump - wonder if they're considering a release if we get any rains this week? If I recall, last time we pulled from Canton we did it during an inopportune time and lost a chunk of water to the riverbed because we released during a dry time when Lake Hefner was already super low.

There's no need right now. Both Hefner and Canton are over 100%. Hefner would just release water downstream if it gets too far above 100%.
Not to say there won't be a low water problem at Hefner this summer, but right now the opposite problem would occur if water gets released.


Looking into the future, hopefully the second Atoka pipeline here in a few years will relieve some pressure off of Hefner.

https://www.owrb.ok.gov/supply/drought/reservoirstorage.php

Not sure why we haven't flooded the Draper expansion either. Seems like it would be something that we should do to plan for the future needs of the metro. And that's better than Canton because you don't lose so much in the transit.

Not sure why we haven't flooded the Draper expansion either. Seems like it would be something that we should do to plan for the future needs of the metro. And that's better than Canton because you don't lose so much in the transit.

It seems like capacity on the pipeline relative to demand is so tight in recent years they have generally been stuck in the process of refilling Draper from dips when it is down from maintenance.

While they did build the capability to shift untreated water between the two network halves a few years ago, they prefer not to shift water from Overholser/Hefner to Draper, as as the water quality before treating is much better at Draper. With the Overholser/Hefner system more vulnerable to drought and a second pipeline feeding a new lake on the horizon, it makes sense the cross connect would have mainly been intended for one way flow, even if it technically could flow either direction.

There's no need right now. Both Hefner and Canton are over 100%. Hefner would just release water downstream if it gets too far above 100%.
Not to say there won't be a low water problem at Hefner this summer, but right now the opposite problem would occur if water gets released.


Looking into the future, hopefully the second Atoka pipeline here in a few years will relieve some pressure off of Hefner.

https://www.owrb.ok.gov/supply/drought/reservoirstorage.phpIf Hefner had stayed this full for this long in the mid 20teens I'd still own a sailboat.

There's no need right now. Both Hefner and Canton are over 100%. Hefner would just release water downstream if it gets too far above 100%.
Not to say there won't be a low water problem at Hefner this summer, but right now the opposite problem would occur if water gets released.


Looking into the future, hopefully the second Atoka pipeline here in a few years will relieve some pressure off of Hefner.

https://www.owrb.ok.gov/supply/drought/reservoirstorage.php

I wonder why Lugert-Altus always seems empty? Used heavily for farming?

I wonder why Lugert-Altus always seems empty? Used heavily for farming?

Cotton. Cotton requires a large amount of water to raise. There are large cotton farms around Altus and by prior agreements those farmers are high on the ability to draw list.

Altus Lugert?

I was born and raised in the area and still have a lot of family there, some involved in farming.

Yes, the primary purpose, going back to the 40's and 50's, was canals being built to provide waters. At the time, there was a lot more cotton farming, and there is still a lot, although wheat farming has taken over a good bit of the cotton farming.

Man oh man, what memories, I grew up at Quartz Mountain State Park and Lodge, and Craterville, and such. Did tons of fishing at Lake Lugert as well as camping.. Place is actually beautiful, if you slow down and look. It's a great place.

If Hefner had stayed this full for this long in the mid 20teens I'd still own a sailboat.

In the 2010's, the Atoka pipeline wasn't at full capacity due to pump upgrades and maintenance which caused Draper to come way down. They also expanded water capacity at the water treatment plant at Draper during this timeframe. So it was bad timing that Atoka wasn't at 100% during a drought.

I bet production is more balanced between the two lakes now then it was back in the 2010's.

I swear some people in this thread are complete idiots not knowing how our city lakes are supplied and how they're not connected.