Eufaula Dam
Location of Eufaula Dam in Oklahoma
Country	United States
Location	Haskell / McIntosh counties, east of Eufaula, Oklahoma
Coordinates	35°18′25″N 95°21′29″W / 35.30694°N 95.35806°W / 35.30694; -95.35806
Status	Operational
Construction began	1956
Opening date	1964
Owner(s)	U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	Earthen embankment, concrete gravity composite
Impounds	Canadian River
Height	114 ft (35 m)
Length	3,200 ft (975 m)
Spillways	11
Spillway type	Tainter gate-controlled ogee weir
Spillway capacity	465,000 cu ft/s (13,167 m3/s)
Reservoir
Creates	Eufaula Lake
Total capacity	2,099,000 acre⋅ft (2.589078377×109 m3)
Surface area	102,000 acres (413 km2)
Power Station
Commission date	1964
Turbines	3 x 30 MW
Installed capacity	90 MW

Eufaula Dam is a dam across the Canadian River in Oklahoma. Completed in 1964, it impounds Eufaula Lake, one of the world's largest man-made lakes, covering 102,500 acres (41,500 hectares). The dam serves to provide flood control, water supply, navigation and hydroelectric power generation. It supports a 90 MW power station;^[1] three generators produce 30 MW each.^[2]

History

State Highway 71 runs across the top of the dam.

Fishing at Eufaula Dam

The dam was approved by Rivers and Harbors Act of 1946 and construction began in December 1956.^[3] The cost of the project, completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was $121,735,000.^[3] The flood-control operations of the dam were in place by February 1964, and the dam dedicated by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 25, 1964.^[3]

Heavy rains in the spring of 2015, caused Eufaula Lake to rise so rapidly that the Corps of Engineers had to open the flood gates and release water at rates as high as 48,000 cubic feet (1,400 m³) per second. This was the highest rate since 1990.^[4]

References