Authorization: Flood Control Act approved July 3, 1958, HD 170, 85th Congress, 1st Session.
Location: On the Little River at river mile 145.3 about 5 miles northwest of Wright City in McCurtain County, Oklahoma.
Status: Complete.
Purpose: Flood control, water supply, water quality, recreation, and fish and wildlife.
History of Construction: Construction began in February 1963. The project became operational in June 1969. The conservation pool filled to elevation 438.00 on January 7, 1970.
Type of Structure: The dam is a rolled, impervious earth-filled dam 7,712 feet long and rises 124 feet above the streambed. Total length of the dam, dike, and spillway is 22,470 feet. The top of the dam embankment is 32 feet wide with a 24-foot-wide, bituminous-surfaced road.
Spillway & Outlet Works: The uncontrolled, saddle spillway is a gravity ogee weir based on firm rock at the right abutment. The weir crest allows for future gates. The gross spillway weir is 608 feet wide with a concrete sill and apron and with a design capacity 0f 246,600 cubic feet per second (cfs). The outlet works located on the right abutment of the river section includes an intake structure, a 12-foot-diameter conduit, a 48-inch low-flow pipe and a 36-inch water supply static head line. Their capacity at maximum pool are 7,000 cfs, 579 cfs, and 239 cfs respectively. The conduit is controlled by two 5-foot 8-inch by 13-foot hydraulically operated slide gates operated in tandem. The channel capacity below the dam is 8,000 cfs.
Hydrologic Data: The floods of February and April 1945 (pre-construction) had a volume of 678,700 acre-feet at the dam site, which is equivalent to 20.04 inches of runoff from the upstream drainage area. The maximum inflow discharge was measured as 97,600 cfs in December 2015. An average daily inflow of 65,000 cfs occurred on May 3, 1990.
Water Storage allotments: Water storage allotments are based on percentages of the conservation pool. Water storage percentages are as follows: Water Quality=30%, International Paper=70%.