Authorization: Flood Control Act approved June 22, 1936; Project Document HD 308, 74th Congress, 1st Session, Public Law 843, 84th Congress, 2d Session, approved July 30, 1956.
Location: At river mile 96.2 on the Caney River, a tributary of the Verdigris River, about 15 miles northwest of Bartlesville, in Osage County, Oklahoma.
Status: Complete.
Purpose: Flood control, water supply, water quality, recreation, navigation and conservation.
History of Construction: Construction started in May 1946 and was completed in February 1951. Embankment closure began in February 1950 and was completed in June 1950. Impoundment of the conservation pool began on September 23, 1951 and was completed on September 24, 1951. The project was placed in full flood control operation in September 1951.
Type of Structure: The dam is a rolled, impervious, earth-filled embankment and concrete spillway 5,200 feet long. The maximum height of the embankment is 94 feet above the streambed. A dike 1,115 feet long with a maximum height of 30 feet is located in a saddle near the right abutment above the dam. Oklahoma Highway 10 extends across the dam.
Spillway & Outlet Works: The spillway is a gate-controlled, concrete-gravity, ogee weir 472 feet wide. The structure is located adjacent to the right abutment. Spillway discharge at maximum pool (elevation 771.4) is 266,200 cubic feet per second (cfs) and at the top of the flood control pool (elevation 765.0) is 183,500 cfs. Spillway discharges are controlled by ten 40- by 25-foot tainter gates. The outlet works consists of nine 5- by 6-foot 6-inch rectangular sluices which pass through the spillway. Capacity of the sluices varies from 11,960 cfs at the top of the flood control pool (elevation 765.0) to 8,063 cfs at the conservation pool (elevation 733.0). The sluices are controlled by hydraulically-operated slide gates. Two gated, 24-inch-diameter, low-flow pipes and one gated, 10-inch-diameter, water supply pipe are provided. Bank-full capacity below the dam is about 6,500 cfs.
Hydrologic Data: The flood of record occurred September 29 to October 19, 1986 and had a volume of 408,000 acre-feet, which is equivalent to 10.46 inches of runoff. Peak inflow to the lake was 133,000 cfs.