Authorization: Flood Control Act approved 24 July 1946; Project Document, HD 602, 79th Congress, 2d Session.

Location: On the Kiamichi River at river mile 17.6, about 7 miles east of Hugo in Choctaw County, Oklahoma, and 30 miles north of Paris, Texas.

Status: Complete.

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

History of Construction: Construction began on September 6, 1968; embankment closure was completed on October 29, 1971; and impoundment of the lake began on  January 18, 1974. The conservation pool filled to elevation 404.5 on March 12, 1974.

Type of Structure: The dam is a rolled earth embankment, including the gate-controlled, concrete spillway; is 10,200 feet long; and rises about 101 feet above the streambed. The top width of the embankment is 32 feet. An access road is provided across the embankment and spillway.

Spillway & Outlet Works:  The spillway is a gate-controlled, concrete- gravity, ogee weir with six 40- by 50-foot gates and a non-baffled stilling basin. Discharge at maximum pool (elevation 445.2) is 365,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). One 48-inch low-flow pipe and one 48-inch water supply pipe are located in the spillway. Bank-full capacity below the dam is 20,000 cfs. Spillway crest elevation is 387.5.

Hydrologic Data: The flood of 1990 filled the flood control pool. The maximum peak inflow of 120,000 cfs occurred on May 3, 1990. During the 1990 flood, the lake crested at elevation 439.96 with a peak release of 35,000 cfs. In December 1971, a peak inflow of 87,060 cfs occurred during construction. The maximum volume of flow past the dam site of 1,549,500 acre-feet occurred from April through June 1957.  On 25 May 2015 the lake crested at elevation 440.11 with a peak release of 59,298 cfs.