Pertinent Data

Authorization: Flood Control Act approved 23 October 1962; Project Document HD 563, 87th Congress, 2d Session. 

Location: At river mile 7.4 on the Little Caney River, a tributary of the Caney River in the Verdigris River watershed; about 2 miles west of Copan and about 9 miles north of Bartlesville in Washington County, Oklahoma.

Status: Complete.

Purpose: Flood control, water supply, water quality control, recreation, and fish and wildlife.

History of Construction: Construction began in November 1972 and the project was placed in useful operation in April 1983.

Type of Structure: The rolled earth-filled dam is about 7,730 feet long, including the spillway, rises about 73 feet above the streambed, and has a top width of 32 feet. A 17,100-foot-long levee provides flood protection for the town of Caney, Kansas. The Caney Levee is 17,100 feet long (STA. 400 to STA. 17461), has a maximum height of 24’, and a design crest height of 742.5. A 24-foot roadway with 4-foot shoulders was provided across the dam for the relocation of Oklahoma Highway 10. The spillway bridge has a 28-foot roadway and 4-foot sidewalks.

Spillway & Outlet Works: The spillway is a gate-controlled, concrete-gravity, ogee weir with four 50- by 35.5-foot tainter gates and a stilling basin. Total length of the spillway is 495 feet. Maximum discharge of the spillway is 207,636 cubic feet per second (cfs) at elevation 739.10. Concrete, non-overflow sections 263 feet long connect the spillway with the embankment. A 36-inch-diameter low-flow pipe and a 12-inch-diameter pipe for future water supply extend through the spillway. Channel capacity below the dam site is about 3,000 cfs.

Hydrologic Data: The flood of record occurred September 29 to  October 14, 1986, and had a volume of 369,000 acre-feet, which is equivalent to 13.71 inches of runoff, with a peak inflow to the lake of 102,000 cfs.