So "full pool" means that anything above that and they start releasing water, correct?

No, Hefner has a large capacity above the 'normal' water level for flood control. Though even outside of flood control, it seems like they tend to add some into that pool in the summer after rain, plausibly due to higher water demand and higher evaporation.

Plus Hefner is a bit odd as the only ways water goes out of it into OKC's water treatment plant and evaporation, when it reaches a level they decide on, they would just stop diverting water from Overholser/North Canadian River to it.

I haven't been by Hefner in a few days. The highest I've ever seen it was about 6 inches above the bottom of the concrete municipal boat slips. I need to see where it is in relation to that.

^^^^^^
Probably ~4' below that, but you'd better hurry! I just got caught in a gully-washer that felt like about 4 feet of rain.

Took this yesterday:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/hefner061123a.jpg

Above 1196’ elevation today. Less than 3’ away from being technically full, and it’s raining hard as I type this.

With the upcoming El Nino, I suspect we will be saying talking about too much rain in the next year.

Wow....Hefner looks sooooo much better. Looks like it's 98% full. What a major improvement in a relatively short amount of time. Woot! Woot!

Level isn't bad at all for this time of year. I know I've talked about this before but we've had a few different sailboats in the center row of the public slips. We sold the last one maybe 4 years ago because it had sit on dry ground more often than not for a couple of years. One summer you could walk from the slip that has the golf course pumps to the main boat ramp on dry ground. That would be 20ish feet or more below where it is now.

Comparing this year to last year:
18099
For all in Oklahoma:
18100
What's going on with "Lugert-Altus"?

EDIT: Sorry about the low quality images. I don't know why they look like that.

What's going on with "Lugert-Altus"?

Heavy farming usage would be my guess.

...
What's going on with "Lugert-Altus"?
I had heard that it was mostly a mix of being drained for some renovations of the lake in 2021, and then limited rain in the catchment area after that completed. Granted over the last decade it seems when Texas/Oklahoma gets droughts, it's catchment area is much more effected than either of the Canadian rivers.

I had heard that it was mostly a mix of being drained for some renovations of the lake in 2021, and then limited rain in the catchment area after that completed. Granted over the last decade it seems when Texas/Oklahoma gets droughts, it's catchment area is much more effected than either of the Canadian rivers.

I can only find an article about the Altus city reservoir being drained, not seeing anything about the lake.

https://www.kswo.com/2021/07/09/changes-be-made-altus-reservoir-soon/

Isn't the lake what most people refer to the reservoir as? --- Nope, two different things. Altus Lake =/= Lake Altus-Lugert

Also, here is a better image of what I tried to insert. Not sure why it was such low quality.
Monthly Reservoir Storage.pdf (ok.gov) (https://www.owrb.ok.gov/supply/drought/Lake_Levels_files/Monthly%20Reservoir%20Storage.pdf)[PDF]

Comparing this year to last year:
18099
For all in Oklahoma:
18100
What's going on with "Lugert-Altus"?

EDIT: Sorry about the low quality images. I don't know why they look like that.

My guess is that the cotton farmers drained it. Even when there are non-drought years it struggles. The watershed is the the north fork of the Red River (or maybe Salt Ford, I can't remember), that comes into the state near Elk City.

They have had a ton of rain lately but there's only usually significant water in it during atypically rainy years. It's mostly used as a big feeder pond for the cotton farmers.

That lake more than any other in state is used heavily for farming

Is that your guess or is that the actual case? Because I’d suspect some western lakes are used more for irrigation even though I don’t know much about the topic.

Hefner has picked up more than a foot of elevation in the past three days; more than in any similar time frame in recent memory. It’s now about a foot from full pool, and will still be getting lots of runoff over the next few days. Suddenly seems possible if not likely that we will see full pool before the dog days of summer.

18128

Maybe we can ditch the even/odd water rationing at least for this year?

Maybe we can ditch the even/odd water rationing at least for this year?

Who need to water? Other than my tomato plants, I haven't watered a single blade of grass this year and I am having to mow every 4-5 days.

Who need to water? Other than my tomato plants, I haven't watered a single blade of grass this year and I am having to mow every 4-5 days.

Shhhhh.....don't tell that to the people who still run their sprinkler systems every morning, despite having 6+ inches of rain in the first 9 days of July.

Not the same everywhere though, water restrictions this summer and for the foreseeable future north of Tulsa: https://www.fox23.com/news/bartlesville-facing-water-restrictions-due-to-recent-drought/article_6106638e-1c27-11ee-9804-cbeb0f6bb0ce.html

Shhhhh.....don't tell that to the people who still run their sprinkler systems every morning, despite having 6+ inches of rain in the first 9 days of July.

Not the same everywhere though, water restrictions this summer and for the foreseeable future north of Tulsa: https://www.fox23.com/news/bartlesville-facing-water-restrictions-due-to-recent-drought/article_6106638e-1c27-11ee-9804-cbeb0f6bb0ce.html

Or you see the sprinklers running WHILE it's raining. Yes I know they are probably on timers, but this year the timers should be off.

Shhhhh.....don't tell that to the people who still run their sprinkler systems every morning, despite having 6+ inches of rain in the first 9 days of July.

Not the same everywhere though, water restrictions this summer and for the foreseeable future north of Tulsa: https://www.fox23.com/news/bartlesville-facing-water-restrictions-due-to-recent-drought/article_6106638e-1c27-11ee-9804-cbeb0f6bb0ce.html

Well if it doesn't rain in the next couple of weeks, for example, we're still not going to have a lack of capacity in our reservoirs and in fact, we may be releasing lots of water downstream anyway. I personally have a Rachio controller hooked up to a Tempest weather system, so my system won't rain when the ground is saturated, when it's too windy, when it's too cold or when it's raining.

Thanks for your concern though.

And north of Tulsa and elsewhere have different water issues than the OKC metro. We have abundant water plans going 50 years+ into the future.

Odd/Even watering days is largely a pointless water saving measure. If someone expected to use x gallons of water on their lawn in a week, they will just use more water on the days they can water. The city has no issue providing water during the summer. If a large water line broke that would be a different story.

Odd/Even watering days is largely a pointless water saving measure. If someone expected to use x gallons of water on their lawn in a week, they will just use more water on the days they can water. The city has no issue providing water during the summer. If a large water line broke that would be a different story.

Speaking of which, just north of Quail Springs Mall on May, I drove by this weekend, near NW150th, quite a mess in the parking lot next to OnCue, where Tucker's and Jimmy John's are, certainly looked like a line break, with city trucks, a giant mound of mud, a deep hole, and water everywhere.

I will never understand why one group of people on this forum act like OKC is located in a tropical climate with an endless supply of fresh water every time we are in the midst of an unusually rainy period such as the one we are right now, while another (largely different) group of people act like OKC will have the same imminent water issues as the Southwest U.S. every time we are in an unusually dry period such as the one we were in for much of the past year. The reality is that over a multiyear timescale, OKC's climate is almost equally influenced by the Gulf of Mexico, the Rocky Mountains, and the deserts of the Southwestern U.S. and Mexico, meaning that we will almost always be cycling into or out of drought conditions. It is a constant push and pull that has been happening since the city was founded 130+ years ago (and long before that, of course). Possibly we will have higher average annual rainfall totals as time goes on due to climate change causing more days with high precipitable water values, but by the same token, we may well also have longer periods of severe drought due to climate change causing the jet stream to weaken and weather patterns to stagnate. The city is set up well in terms of future water supply (especially given that we have water rights in Southeast Oklahoma which does tend to get more consistent rains), but our precipitation patterns are still erratic enough that it would be shortsighted to abandon all water conservation efforts every time our reservoirs hit capacity.

My house foundation agrees with you.

Hefner has picked up more than a foot of elevation in the past three days; more than in any similar time frame in recent memory. It’s now about a foot from full pool, and will still be getting lots of runoff over the next few days. Suddenly seems possible if not likely that we will see full pool before the dog days of summer.

18128

Lake Hefner has picked up THREE MORE INCHES since I posted this around lunchtime, today.

I will never understand why one group of people on this forum act like OKC is located in a tropical climate with an endless supply of fresh water every time we are in the midst of an unusually rainy period such as the one we are right now, while another (largely different) group of people act like OKC will have the same imminent water issues as the Southwest U.S. every time we are in an unusually dry period such as the one we were in for much of the past year. The reality is that over a multiyear timescale, OKC's climate is almost equally influenced by the Gulf of Mexico, the Rocky Mountains, and the deserts of the Southwestern U.S. and Mexico, meaning that we will almost always be cycling into or out of drought conditions. It is a constant push and pull that has been happening since the city was founded 130+ years ago (and long before that, of course). Possibly we will have higher average annual rainfall totals as time goes on due to climate change causing more days with high precipitable water values, but by the same token, we may well also have longer periods of severe drought due to climate change causing the jet stream to weaken and weather patterns to stagnate. The city is set up well in terms of future water supply (especially given that we have water rights in Southeast Oklahoma which does tend to get more consistent rains), but our precipitation patterns are still erratic enough that it would be shortsighted to abandon all water conservation efforts every time our reservoirs hit capacity.Very well said. Thank you for providing an educated take on the subject. :)

I'm not sure why some here want to try to convert western water issues to central Oklahoma water issues. OKC doesn't even have some if its biggest water assets online yet. We are provided for well into the future and are making constant investments in our water infrastructure. The sky may indeed be falling in Las Vegas, but that's just not the case here.

There may be a time when the courage of man fails and an odd/even cycle is really necessary, but it is not this time. That cylce was put into place in the midst of an historic drought. It can be put back into place again if needs be. And even back when we were in a historic drought, we came nowhere close to running dry. We had safeguards in palce in the Canton reservoir, and in retrospect, even the release of that water was in all likelihood completely unnecessary. This thread has been hilariously panicky with hand wringing and fearmongering galore... and aside from some bait shops in Canton, everyone was fine.

Even with the odd/even cycle, I can still water every day with a few hours difference, on even days, I start watering at the stroke of midnight and can then water again beginning about 10PM. The grass won't notice the couple hours of difference.

Hefner is now only about 4” from full pool, and might yet make it this week. That will mean something like 1-1/2’ of movement in less than a week. I nerdily follow that lake’s elevation fairly closely, and I don’t believe I ever recall that much movement in such a short time.

Hefner is now only about 4” from full pool, and might yet make it this week. That will mean something like 1-1/2’ of movement in less than a week. I nerdily follow that lake’s elevation fairly closely, and I don’t believe I ever recall that much movement in such a short time.

I drove around the Yukon/El Reno area yesterday and the North Canadian was about as high as I can ever remember seeing it (granted, I didn't live here in May 2015).

I'm surprised Canton lake is still 3.17 ft below normal.

Hefner is now only about 4” from full pool, and might yet make it this week. That will mean something like 1-1/2’ of movement in less than a week. I nerdily follow that lake’s elevation fairly closely, and I don’t believe I ever recall that much movement in such a short time.

According to the Oklahoma Water Resource Board's map Hefner is now at normal level
https://www.owrb.ok.gov/supply/drought/Lake_Levels_files/Monthly%20Reservoir%20Storage.pdf

With most of the rivers high right now, they probably will store some extra in the next couple weeks
https://waterwatch.usgs.gov/new/index.php?m=real&r=ok&w=map

According to the Oklahoma Water Resource Board's map Hefner is now at normal level
https://www.owrb.ok.gov/supply/drought/Lake_Levels_files/Monthly%20Reservoir%20Storage.pdf

With most of the rivers high right now, they probably will store some extra in the next couple weeks
https://waterwatch.usgs.gov/new/index.php?m=real&r=ok&w=map
I mean, it BASICALLY is. It’s now a little over an inch shy of its full pool elevation, which is 1199’. It’s basically picked up two full feet over the past three days. It’ll probably be above full pool by later tonight at its current pace.

Instead of the website you cited I’d encourage visiting this one, which provides much more detail and accuracy: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/07159550/#parameterCode=00065&timeSeriesId=112093&period=P7D

They are finally mowing at Hefner!!
And thank you Mother Nature for filling the lake.

I mean, it BASICALLY is. It’s now a little over an inch shy of its full pool elevation, which is 1199’. It’s basically picked up two full feet over the past three days. It’ll probably be above full pool by later tonight at its current pace.

Instead of the website you cited I’d encourage visiting this one, which provides much more detail and accuracy: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/07159550/#parameterCode=00065&timeSeriesId=112093&period=P7D

You were right - it hit 1199' last night at 11PM - and then gained another half-foot since then. That's a total gain of almost 3 feet since July 6th.

Looks like the gage height has reached as high as 1201.1' in the past. Wonder how close we will get to that given the widespread 4-6" rain totals in the watershed over the past three days.

As of 11:15pm July 14, Hefner lake level is 1200.6 feet.

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/07159550/#parameterCode=00065&timeSeriesId=112093&period=P7D

As of August 8, Canton is slightly above normal. Click on image for a larger look...18220

Press release:

***************


Lake Canton water release to replenish Lake Hefner, boosting OKC primary water source
10/21/2024

The Oklahoma City Water Utilities Trust (OCWUT) is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to draw water from Lake Canton in northwest Oklahoma. The water is needed to help increase water levels at Lake Hefner, which serves as a primary water source for the City of Oklahoma City.

The Canton release is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 22. This will be the first water release OCWUT has made from Lake Canton this year, with the most recent release occurring in 2022.

The continued unseasonably warm and dry weather conditions have caused water levels at Lake Hefner to continue to drop. The 16,000-acre foot release from Canton is expected to lower Lake Canton about three feet and raise Hefner’s water level by about four feet, according to Corps and Trust engineers. The water will travel down the North Canadian River to Lake Hefner, arriving in Hefner within three to five days of its release.

The release has been scheduled in a way that aims to minimize any potential impacts on Lake Canton and the surrounding area, ensuring recreational activities and wildlife are unaffected.

OKC Utilities Director Chris Browning, who serves as OCWUT General Manager, and staff met with officials from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Canton Lake Advisory Committee to carefully plan the release.

I wonder when OKC will begin planning for a new reservoir. They are growing too fast for just Hefner, Overholser, and Draper.

I wonder when OKC will begin planning for a new reservoir. They are growing too fast for just Hefner, Overholser, and Draper.

Atoka and Sardis Reservoirs should be included in that list too even if they are not in the city. There's a second pipeline currently under construction from Atoka. I assume at some point a pipeline will also be built from Sardis to Atoka. I just wonder how long it will be until they build a line from Draper to Lake Hefner so we have a backup if Canton gets too dry.

They have a while to make additions. Hefner has never been anywhere near low enough to be concerning as far as volume running out.

I wonder when OKC will begin planning for a new reservoir. They are growing too fast for just Hefner, Overholser, and Draper.

Over twenty years ago.

They have a while to make additions. Hefner has never been anywhere near low enough to be concerning as far as volume running out.

Plus part of our issue is Draper:Atoka and Overholser/Hefner:Canton were almost independent water systems. They only finished the first phase to start allowing pumping treated water between the two systems at scale in 2020, phase two was estimated to complete in 2025 and entire interconnect finished in 2030 (not exactly sure if any timeline changes occurred past what was easily searchable online).

So you could run into issues from either system having lower than average rainfall, generally rainfall is more an issue with Overholser/Hefner:Canton, due to getting much less rainfall on average in west half of state. It could be mantence on pipeline or water treatment facility (apparently tend to schedule together), like draper had a few years ago. The additional capacity of McGee Creek, having two pipeline giving redundancy to draper that was previously missing, and better interconnectivity within the treated water system; our water system is getting much more capable of handling any single issue. Plus long run there likely will be more treatment capacity go online at draper or possibly a new local reservoir, since will have much more raw water available to process once the second pipeline is finished.

Oh God. This thread again.

The wailing and gnashing of teeth from Canton used to be pretty ridiculous. Predictions of Canton becoming the next Lake Optima have not come to pass.

Things will be fine. It will rain again and Canton will get back to normal. As OKC grows and this region becomes naturally more arid, it will be more of a matter of routine that OKC taps reservoirs around the state--and while I am sure that selling fishing bait and bed and breakfasts in Canton are important, it is more important that the OKC economy supports the rest of the state.

I think in 50 years, we may also be looking at getting that land all bought up to add to Draper's reservoir. That land/plan will probably be our best bet for the long-term, but it's going to cost us more every year we wait to start buying it up.

Oh God. This thread again.

The wailing and gnashing of teeth from Canton used to be pretty ridiculous. Predictions of Canton becoming the next Lake Optima have not come to pass.

Things will be fine. It will rain again and Canton will get back to normal. As OKC grows and this region becomes naturally more arid, it will be more of a matter of routine that OKC taps reservoirs around the state--and while I am sure that selling fishing bait and bed and breakfasts in Canton are important, it is more important that the OKC economy supports the rest of the state.

I was thinking more about the long term plan to get untreated water into Hefner for that the large water treatment plant rather than Bed and Breakfasts and fishing. The scientific consensus calls for more extreme droughts.

But its to good to hear that Draper water treatment facility has some capacity to serve the rest of the city and there is some redundancy in the system now.

I was thinking more about the long term plan to get untreated water into Hefner for that the large water treatment plant rather than Bed and Breakfasts and fishing. The scientific consensus calls for more extreme droughts.

But its to good to hear that Draper water treatment facility has some capacity to serve the rest of the city and there is some redundancy in the system now.

Oh yeah, you can find the plans for the development of OKC's water reservoirs. The city has things planned like 20+ years out.

There's a huge addition going in at Draper--going to massively increase the size of that lake. Two new pipelines, we've cleared up the water rights with the first nations. OKC is sitting pretty for a landlocked city with insufficient natural water sources and a drying up aquifer.

I'd be very concerned as a resident of Edmond, for example, that aquifer is still being depleted and it is still a major source of their water and they are struggling to even pass a GO bond to fix their roads. God help 'em when it comes time to pay the piper on their lack of planning for water resources.

I dug up a 1980s Oklahoman article saying the Elm Creek Reservoir next to Lake Stanley Draper was going to be built in the 1990s. Anyone know why that didn't happen or when the reservoir may be built in the future?

I dug up a 1980s Oklahoman article saying the Elm Creek Reservoir next to Lake Stanley Draper was going to be built in the 1990s. Anyone know why that didn't happen or when the reservoir may be built in the future?

Here's a thread from 2009:

https://www.okctalk.com/showthread.php?t=12686

I dug up a 1980s Oklahoman article saying the Elm Creek Reservoir next to Lake Stanley Draper was going to be built in the 1990s. Anyone know why that didn't happen or when the reservoir may be built in the future?

My first guess for why an 80s project in OKC got shelved would be Oil Bust, plausibly not helped by the Savings and Loan crisis around the same time.

It seems like this lake had come up in some of the city meetings in the last several years about the new pipeline. That the second pipeline is being built implies we are near the limits of capacity of the original pipeline, so even if it could have filled/maintained another reservoir in the 80s, we might have hit a window from population grown that needed to wait till additional volume from our eastern reservoirs was available to go forward.

I dug up a 1980s Oklahoman article saying the Elm Creek Reservoir next to Lake Stanley Draper was going to be built in the 1990s. Anyone know why that didn't happen or when the reservoir may be built in the future?

It appears that the city owns all or most of the land required to build it.

Oh yeah, you can find the plans for the development of OKC's water reservoirs. The city has things planned like 20+ years out.

There's a huge addition going in at Draper--going to massively increase the size of that lake. Two new pipelines, we've cleared up the water rights with the first nations. OKC is sitting pretty for a landlocked city with insufficient natural water sources and a drying up aquifer.

I'd be very concerned as a resident of Edmond, for example, that aquifer is still being depleted and it is still a major source of their water and they are struggling to even pass a GO bond to fix their roads. God help 'em when it comes time to pay the piper on their lack of planning for water resources.

Umm Edmond is in the process of an already approved water resource expansion to the tune of roughly 500 mil. Should all be done in the next 5 years. Will allow Edmond to no longer buy water from OKC.

It appears that the city owns all or most of the land required to build it.

I noticed that too. Good on them for being so proactive about it.

My first guess for why an 80s project in OKC got shelved would be Oil Bust, plausibly not helped by the Savings and Loan crisis around the same time.

It seems like this lake had come up in some of the city meetings in the last several years about the new pipeline. That the second pipeline is being built implies we are near the limits of capacity of the original pipeline, so even if it could have filled/maintained another reservoir in the 80s, we might have hit a window from population grown that needed to wait till additional volume from our eastern reservoirs was available to go forward.

That and the original one is very old at this point. Need to get a second one up and going just so they can shut the original down and rebuild it.

I noticed that too. Good on them for being so proactive about it.

I never realized that the reservoir was the reason that sooner was randomly realigned there. Make sense now.

I wonder when OKC will begin planning for a new reservoir. They are growing too fast for just Hefner, Overholser, and Draper.

There is land zoned for another lake just West of Draper, FYI.

Edit: Appears I'm late to the party with this info.

If the lake doesn't get filled 100%; it's because they sent it down the river to Eufaula. Water mismanagement?

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/07241000/#parameterCode=00065&period=P7D&showMedian=false

If the lake doesn't get filled 100%; it's because they sent it down the river to Eufaula. Water mismanagement?

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/07241000/#parameterCode=00065&period=P7D&showMedian=false