County flood control dam benefits tallied
OKLAHOMA CITY (June 11, 2015)—Flood control dams prevented $91 million in flood damages to land and property in May 2015 according to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. The federal agency has released a list of flood control projects and the damage each prevented in May.
The top five watersheds with the most damage prevented for May 2015 were:
- Spring Creek watershed, Caddo County, 4 dams, 16.4 inches of rain, $7 million in damage prevented
- Sugar Creek watershed, Caddo County, 51 dams, 16 inches of rain, $5.4 million in damage prevented
- Wildhorse Creek watershed, Carter, Garvin, Murray and Stephens Counties, 107 dams, 15.7 inches of rain, $4 million in damage prevented
- Rush Creek watershed, Garvin, Grady and Stephens Counties, 54 dams, 15.6 inches of rain, $3.2 million in damage prevented
- Big Wewoka Creek watershed, Hughes and Seminole Counties, 41 dams, 18.4 inches of rain, $2.4 million in damage prevented
See below for a full list of flood control systems by watershed and the counties they benefit
Flood control dams are designed to capture and slowly release water within part or all of a watershed. The Bitter Creek flood control system in Grady County, for example, consists of 22 dams along the tributaries of Bitter Creek. By capturing the water that flows to the small creek, the dams reduce flooding locally, but also reduces the amount of water flowing into the Washita River downstream. In this way, the small system helps reduce flooding in communities along the river such as Chickasha.
Flood Control Benefits by Flood Control Project, County—May 2015
| Flood Control Project (Watershed) | County | Average Rainfall over Watershed Project in Inches | Number of Dams | Damage Prevented |
| Big Wewoka | Hughes, Seminole | 18.4 | 41 | $2.4m |
| Bitter | Grady | 19.4 | 19 | $467k |
| Boggy | Washita | 12.5 | 36 | $636k |
| Boiling Springs | Latimer | 21.7 | 1 | $80k |
| Broken Leg | Roger Mills | 9.6 | 3 | $30k |
| Brushy-Peaceable | Pittsburg | 36.4 | 18 | $1.9m |
| Butler Laterals | Custer | 13.3 | 9 | $130k |
| Caddo | Carter | 16.7 | 28 | $1.1m |
| Cane | Muskogee, Okmulgee | 14.1 | 21 | $634k |
| Caney | Atoka | 24.1 | 14 | $403k |
| Caney-Coon | Coal | 20.6 | 3 | $136k |
| Canyon View | Canadian | 14.1 | 4 | $156k |
| Carney | Choctaw | 16.2 | 1 | $90k |
| Caston Mountain | LeFlore | 17.3 | 5 | $618k |
| Cavalry | Washington | 13.7 | 30 | $752k |
| Cherokee Sandy | Garvin | 14.4 | 19 | $505k |
| Chigley Sandy | Garvin, Murray | 17.6 | 14 | $263k |
| Cobb-Fastrunner | Caddo, Washita | 11.3 | 12 | $247k |
| Colbert | McClain | 19.9 | 3 | $364k |
| Cotton-Coon-Mission | Nowata, Osage, Washington | 9.5 | 11 | $192k |
| Cottonwood | Canadian, Kingfisher, Logan | 11.5 | 16 | $504k |
| Cow | Jefferson, Stephens | 16.3 | 29 | $1m |
| Cowden Laterals | Caddo, Washita | 16.3 | 13 | $368k |
| Criner | McClain | 20.2 | 22 | $2.2 m |
| Dead Indian-Wildhorse | Roger Mills | 8.8 | 12 | $138k |
| Deep Red Rund-Coffin | Tillman | 18.6 | 2 | $919k |
| Delaware (PL-534) | Atoka, Caddo, Coal, Johnston | 19.9 | 2 | $66k |
| Delaware (PL-566) | Atoka, Caddo, Coal, Johnston | 23.7 | 13 | $687k |
| Double | Washington | 9.9 | 6 | $63k |
| Dry | Lincoln | 9.0 | 8 | $86k |
| Finn | McClain | 18.3 | 35 | $2.1m |
| Fitzgerald-Soldier | Logan | 9.5 | 5 | $113k |
| Fort Cobb Laterals | Caddo | 18.4 | 9 | $309k |
| Four Mile | Canadian | 15.4 | 1 | $962k |
| Fourche Maline | Latimer | 21.0 | 14 | $1.6m |
| Fourteen Mile | Cherokee | 14.5 | 2 | $72k |
| Frogville | Choctaw | 15.1 | 2 | $262k |
| Gyp | Washita | 14.5 | 1 | $30k |
| Ionine | Grady | 18.5 | 3 | $24k |
| Jack | Tillman | 16.4 | 10 | $816k |
| Kadashan Bottom | Wagoner | 16.4 | 5 | $236k |
| Kickapoo Nations | Lincoln, Oklahoma | 9.3 | 5 | $283k |
| Kickapoo Sandy | Garvin, Murray | 16.2 | 20 | $373k |
| Lambert | Alfalfa | 11.7 | 2 | $75k |
| Leader-Middle Clear Boggy | Coal, Pontotoc | 21 | 33 | $1.5m |
| Little Deep Fork | Creek, Lincoln, Okmulgee | 13.9 | 56 | $1.5m |
| Little Washita River | Caddo, Comanche, Grady | 19.2 | 45 | $2m |
| Little Wewoka | Hughes, Okfuskee, Seminole | 18.0 | 16 | $833k |
| Long Branch | Noble, Payne | 10.6 | 11 | $81k |
| Lost-Duck | Kay | 11.4 | 9 | $394k |
| Lower Bayou | Love | 17.7 | 15 | $1.4m |
| Lower Black Bear | Noble, Pawnee | 9.3 | 19 | $399k |
| Lower Clear Boggy | Atoka, Bryan, Coal, Johnston | 25.6 | 23 | $1.4m |
| Lower Red Rock | Noble | 9.1 | 7 | $56k |
| Maysville Laterals | Garvin | 13.6 | 32 | $539k |
| Middle Deep Red Run | Tillman | 12.9 | 1 | $148k |
| Mill | Johnston, Murray | 19.2 | 18 | $250k |
| Nine Mile | Roger Mills | 9.7 | 18 | $157k |
| North Deer | Pottawatomie | 17.6 | 1 | $264k |
| Oak | Washita | 16.3 | 14 | $483k |
| Okfuskee Tribs | Okfuskee, Okmulgee | 17.3 | 29 | $1.5m |
| Okmulgee | Okmulgee | 16.7 | 2 | $957k |
| Otter | Kiowa | 19.4 | 4 | $403k |
| Owl | Garvin, McClain | 13.4 | 15 | $165k |
| Paint | Harper | 6.9 | 1 | $58k |
| Panther | Custer | 13.2 | 6 | $269k |
| Peavine | Garvin, McClain | 13.7 | 10 | $229k |
| Pennington | Johnston | 19.4 | 3 | $34k |
| Pryor | Craig, Mayes, Rogers | 11.9 | 8 | $42k |
| Quapaw | Lincoln | 13.9 | 38 | $1.7m |
| Quartermaster | Custer, Dewey, Roger Mills | 9.6 | 36 | $671k |
| Rainy Mountain | Kiowa | 16.4 | 29 | $1.5m |
| Roaring | Grady | 17.5 | 40 | $1.6m |
| Robinson | Lincoln | 14.4 | 5 | $191k |
| Rock (PL-534) | Garvin, Latimer, LeFlore, Murray, Pontotoc | 18.9 | 17 | $571k |
| Rock (PL-566) | Garvin, Latimer, LeFlore, Murray, Pontotoc | 21.1 | 4 | $751k |
| Round | Garvin, Grady | 16.7 | 9 | $480k |
| Rush | Garvin, Grady, Stephens | 15.6 | 54 | $3.2m |
| Saddle Mountain | Caddo, Kiowa | 16.9 | 12 | $413k |
| Sallisaw | Adair, Sequoyah, | 18.3 | 34 | $2.3m |
| Salt | Pottawatomie, Seminole | 16.7 | 35 | $1.7m |
| Salt-Camp | Creek | 12.4 | 5 | $166k |
| Sandstone | Beckham, Roger Mills | 11.0 | 42 | $689k |
| Sandy | Garvin, Pontotoc | 18.0 | 29 | $1.6m |
| Scraper Hollow | Adair | 13.3 | 2 | $32k |
| Sergeant Major | Roger Mills | 10.1 | 6 | $45k |
| Soldier | Custer, Washita | 12.7 | 12 | $437k |
| South Clinton Laterals | Custer, Washita | 12.0 | 16 | $231k |
| Spring | Caddo | 16.4 | 4 | $6.9m |
| Stillwater | Noble, Payne | 10.0 | 34 | $1m |
| Sugar | Caddo | 16.0 | 51 | $5.4m |
| Timber | Beckham | 11.4 | 7 | $368k |
| Tonkawa | Caddo | 19.0 | 13 | $1.2m |
| Tri-County Turkey | Greer, Harmon, Jackson | 12.0 | 31 | $703k |
| Turkey (PL-534) | Custer, Major, Washita | 12.1 | 12 | $302k |
| Turkey (PL-566) | Custer, Major, Washita | 11.0 | 3 | $24k |
| Uncle Johns | Canadian, Kingfisher | 11.8 | 12 | $302k |
| Upper Bayou | Cater | 17.7 | 8 | $367k |
| Upper Black Bear | Noble | 11.0 | 72 | $898k |
| Upper Blue River | Pontotoc | 22.2 | 2 | $24k |
| Upper Clear Boggy | Coal, Johnston, Pontotoc | 22.9 | 49 | $2.2m |
| Upper Elk | Beckham, Kiowa, Washita | 12.2 | 35 | $1.9m |
| Upper Muddy Boggy | Coal, Hughes, Pittsburg, Pontotoc | 20.0 | 24 | $713k |
| Upper Red Rock | Noble | 9.8 | 43 | $490k |
| Upper Washita River | Roger Mills | 9.7 | 35 | $321k |
| Washington | Garvin | 13.0 | 3 | $26k |
| Waterfall-Gilford | McCurtain | 15.2 | 11 | $246k |
| Wayne | McClain | 14.1 | 2 | $23k |
| Whitegrass-Waterhole | McCurtain | 15.2 | 9 | $1.4m |
| Whiteshield | Beckham, Custer, Roger Mills | 12.3 | 19 | $224k |
| Whitewater | Delaware | 10.8 | 2 | $27k |
| Wildhorse | Carter, Garvin, Murray, Stephens | 15.7 | 107 | $4m |
| Winter | Grady | 21.4 | 24 | $1.4m |
| Totals | 15.0 | 2,107 | $91m |