Washita Basin Project

Last updated

The Washita Basin Project is a project in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The project provides a municipal and industrial water supply to seven Oklahoma towns. The project also provides over 3,500 acres of land and 7,300 acres of water surface for recreation and provides over 6,300 acres of land and over 5,500 acres of water surface for wildlife management, including the Washita National Wildlife Refuge.

Contents

History

Investigations by the United States Bureau of Reclamation began in 1945 to create a plan to address the basin's water supply problems and needs with further land and water resources development. Surveys were then conducted in 1946 and 1951 to determine what form of improvement was needed. The project was authorized in 1956 and work began on both the Foss Reservoir and the Fort Cobb Reservoir in 1958. The Fort Cobb Dam was completed in 1959 and the Foss Dam in 1961. Construction on the aqueduct for the Foss Reservoir lasted from 1960 to 1962 and on the Anadarko (Fort Cobb) aqueduct from 1958 to 1961.

Facilities

Related Research Articles

United States Bureau of Reclamation Government agency

The United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and operation of the diversion, delivery, and storage projects that it has built throughout the western United States for irrigation, water supply, and attendant hydroelectric power generation. Currently the USBR is the largest wholesaler of water in the country, bringing water to more than 31 million people, and providing one in five Western farmers with irrigation water for 10 million acres of farmland, which produce 60% of the nation's vegetables and 25% of its fruits and nuts. The USBR is also the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the western United States.

Shasta Dam Dam in Shasta County, California

Shasta Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam across the Sacramento River in Northern California in the United States. At 602 feet (183 m) high, it is the eighth-tallest dam in the United States. Located at the north end of the Sacramento Valley, Shasta Dam creates Shasta Lake for long-term water storage, flood control, hydroelectricity and protection against the intrusion of saline water. The largest reservoir in the state, Shasta Lake can hold about 4,500,000 acre-feet (5,600 GL).

Pick–Sloan Missouri Basin Program

The Pick–Sloan Missouri Basin Program, formerly called the Missouri River Basin Project, was initially authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1944, which approved the plan for the conservation, control, and use of water resources in the Missouri River Basin.

Lake of the Arbuckles

The Lake of the Arbuckles is a reservoir located in southern Oklahoma, 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Sulphur in Murray County. The lake covers 2,350 acres (950 ha) and is a principal water supply reservoir for the city of Ardmore, some 30 mi (48 km) to the southwest. It also supplies water to the cities of Sulphur, Davis, Wynnewood and a large oil refinery near Wynnewood. The lake also provides flood control, fish and wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities.

Fort Cobb Reservoir

Fort Cobb Reservoir is a reservoir located in Caddo County in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It impounds the waters of Cobb Creek, Lake Creek, and Willow Creek. The lake covers approximately 4,000 acres (16 km²) of water and 45 mi (72 km) of shoreline. Its drainage area is 285 square miles (740 km2). It was constructed in 1958. The towns of Carnegie, Fort Cobb, and Eakly are located nearby.

McGee Creek Reservoir

McGee Creek Reservoir is a reservoir in Atoka County, Oklahoma. It impounds the waters of McGee Creek and several smaller streams, including Potapo, Panther, Little Bugaboo, Bear, Blue, Mill, and Crooked creeks, all of which are tributaries of Muddy Boggy River. According to the Bureau of Reclamation (BuRec), the reservoir was designed to extend 14 miles (23 km) up McGee Creek and 9 miles (14 km) up Potapo Creek when the water is at "conservation level.

San Luis Dam Dam in Merced County, California

San Luis Dam is a major earth-filled dam in Merced County, California, which forms San Luis Reservoir, the largest off-stream reservoir in the United States. The dam and reservoir are located in the Diablo Range to the east of Pacheco Pass and about 10 miles (16 km) west of Los Banos. San Luis Dam, a jointly-owned state and federal facility, stores more than 2 million acre feet (2.5 km3) of water for the California State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project. Although the dam is located in the valley of San Luis Creek, the majority of its water comes from man-made aqueducts which are supplied from other rivers in Northern California.

New Waddell Dam Dam in Maricopa County, Arizona

The New Waddell Dam is an embankment dam on the Agua Fria River in Maricopa County, Arizona, 35 miles (56 km) northwest of Phoenix. It serves as part of the Central Arizona Project (CAP) while also providing water for the Maricopa Water District. The dam creates Lake Pleasant with water from the Agua Fria and also the CAP aqueduct. In addition, it affords flood protection, hydroelectric power production and recreational opportunities. Construction on the dam began in 1985 and ended in 1994. Its reservoir submerged the Old Waddell Dam which was completed in 1927 after decades of planning.

Nimbus Dam Dam in Sacramento County, California

The Nimbus Dam is a base load hydroelectric dam on the American River near Folsom, California. Approximately 8,700 acre-feet (10,700 dam3) of water is retained by the dam. It is responsible for the impoundment of water from the American River to create the Lake Natoma reservoir. The dam stands 87 feet and spans 1,093 feet. The Nimbus powerplant consists of two generators. Each generator produces enough electrical power to power over 200,000 100-watt light bulbs, about 15,500 kilowatts of electrical power. Nimbus Dam consists of 18 radial gates, each with their own gate bays. These 18 gates today are the ones that were completed in 1955 along with the rest of the dam. Of the eighteen gates, four of them have had their coating system replaced. This protects the gates from a faster rate of corrosion. The other fourteen gates have the original coating.

Yellowtail Dam Dam in Big Horn County, Montana

Yellowtail Dam is a dam across the Bighorn River in south central Montana in the United States. The mid-1960s era concrete arch dam serves to regulate the flow of the Bighorn for irrigation purposes and to generate hydroelectric power. The dam and its reservoir, Bighorn Lake, are owned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

The Central Utah Project is a US federal water project that was authorized for construction under the Colorado River Storage Project Act of April 11, 1956, as a participating project. In general, the Central Utah Project develops a portion of Utah's share of the yield of the Colorado River, as set out in the Colorado River Compact of 1922.

Colorado River Storage Project

The Colorado River Storage Project is a United States Bureau of Reclamation project designed to oversee the development of the upper Colorado River basin. The project provides hydroelectric power, flood control and water storage for participating states along the upper portion of the Colorado River and its major tributaries.

Foss State Park

Foss State Park is a 1,749-acre (708 ha) Oklahoma state park located on Foss Lake, in southwestern Custer County, Oklahoma, near the city of Foss.

Keith Sebelius Lake

Keith Sebelius Lake, formerly known as Norton Reservoir, is a man-made reservoir on Prairie Dog Creek in northwest Kansas. Built and managed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, it is used for flood control, irrigation, recreation, and local water supply. Prairie Dog State Park is located on its shore.

Cedar Bluff Reservoir

Cedar Bluff Reservoir is a reservoir in Trego County, Kansas, United States. Built and managed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for irrigation and area water supply, it is also used for flood control and recreation. Cedar Bluff State Park is located on its shore.

Kirwin Reservoir

Kirwin Reservoir is a reservoir in Phillips County, Kansas, United States. It is located next to the city of Kirwin in northern Kansas. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation built it and continues to operate it for the purposes of flood control and area irrigation. The Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge lies on its shores.

Webster Reservoir

Webster Reservoir is a reservoir in Rooks County, Kansas, United States. Built and managed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, it is used for flood control, irrigation, and recreation. Webster State Park is located on its shore.

Cheney Reservoir

Cheney Reservoir is a reservoir on the North Fork Ninnescah River in Reno, Kingman, and Sedgwick counties of Kansas in the United States. Built and managed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for local water supply, it is also used for flood control and recreation. Cheney State Park is located on its shore.

Foss Reservoir

Foss Reservoir, also known as Foss Lake, is in Custer County, Oklahoma on the Washita River, about 15 miles (24 km) west of Clinton, Oklahoma. The reservoir was constructed during 1958–1961 by the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation. The project was known originally as the Washita Basin Project. The lake and dam were named for the community of Foss, Oklahoma, about 6 miles (9.7 km) south of the site. The primary purposes are to regulate flow of the river and to provide water for the cities of Bessie, Clinton, Cordell and Hobart. It is western Oklahoma's largest lake and lies entirely within Foss State Park.

Lake Hobart

Lake Hobart, also known as Rocky Lake, is a reservoir in Washita County, Oklahoma, just to the northwest of Rocky, off U.S. Route 183 and the N2200 and N2190 roads. It is 9.5 miles (15.3 km) from the city of Hobart, Oklahoma, for which the lake was named. The reservoir was created as part of the Washita Basin Project in the 1950s, to improve water supply in the area by constructing a dam across Little Elk Creek. The Clinton-Cordell-Hobart Aqueduct carries water from the reservoir to the three communities for which it is named. It is popular with fisherman and boaters. The Grissom Cemetery lies near the northern side of the lake.

References