Oklahoma’s Dam Infrastructures on Tribal Lands
Oklahoma has 2,107 flood control dams in 61 counties to reduce flooding, control erosion and sediment, improve fish and wildlife habitat, improve water quality and in some cases provide recreational areas and municipal water supplies. Of these 1,862 dams are located within tribal land boundaries.
Flood control construction projects are in full swing in Oklahoma. Many of these dams are in Tribal jurisdictions. Below you will find various maps, fact sheets, and other important information about these structures.
The Conservation Commission has developed OK Maps, a web-based mapping tool that allows you to see tribal jurisdictions overlayed with all current flood control dams. Please see instructions below to use this tool.
For general questions, or to receive a copy of the GIS layer of the 2,107 flood control structures, please contact Janet Stewart at (405) 742-1240 or email janet.stewart@conservation.ok.gov.
Any specific questions regarding a dam should be made to the conservation district responsible for the dam’s operation and maintenance. Please see the Conservation Districts – Map & Directory link below for the conservation district’s contact information.
Conservation Districts:
Flood Control Dam Maps:
- Planned Watershed Dams Located Within Tribal Jurisdictions
- Constructed Watershed Dams Located Within Tribal Jurisdictions
- Planned and Constructed Watershed Dams Located WIthin Tribal Jurisdictions
- Watershed Structures & Tribal Boundaries of Oklahoma
- High Hazard & Rehabilitated Watershed Dams & Tribal Boundaries in Oklahoma
Rehabilitation
Many dams today are in a far different setting than when they were constructed. Population has grown, homes and businesses have been constructed upstream and downstream from the dams; land uses have changed; sediment pools have filled; and concrete and metal components have deteriorated. Many dams in Oklahoma do not meet current dam safety regulations due to the adoption of more stringent requirements after the dams were built. Rehabilitation to meet current safety standards usually requires raising the height of the dam, replacing the principal spillway inlet and conduit and widening the earthen auxiliary spillway. As of February 2018, 36 dams have been rehabilitated with 34 of these located in tribal land boundaries.
Planned Dams
There are 332 flood control dams that have been planned but not yet constructed. Of these, 277 are located in tribal land boundaries. Some of these planned dams have not been constructed due to land rights issues, land use changes, and lack of federal and local funding.
Fact Sheets
- Otoe-Missouria Tribe Fact Sheet
- Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma Fact Sheet
- Sac and Fox Nation Fact Sheet
- Seminole Nation of Oklahoma Fact Sheet
- Wichita-Caddo-Delaware Nation Fact Sheet
- Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma Fact Sheet
- Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma Fact Sheet
- Chickasaw Nation Fact Sheet
- Choctaw Nation Fact Sheet
- Citizen Potawatomi-Shawnee Nations Fact Sheet
- Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma Fact Sheet
- Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma Fact Sheet
- Kiowa-Comanche-Ft. Sill Apache Fact Sheet
- Muscogee (Creek) Nation Fact Sheet
- Osage Nation Fact Sheet
Using OK Maps to See Watershed Dams Within Your Tribal Boundaries
- Go to OKMAPS
- On the right-hand side, uncheck “Oklahoma Counties”
3. On the left-hand side, click “Administrative Units”
4. In the dropdown menu, click “Tribal Jurisdictional Areas”
5. Then click the green plus sign below “Tribal Jurisdictional Areas”
6. Then click on “Administrative Units” in navy blue again on the top of the menu to hide the drop down.
7. Click on “structures” in the same left-side menu.
8. Click on “Watershed Dams_NRCS” in yellow. Then click on the green plus sign below.
9. Your final page should look like the image below, and show all tribal boundaries as well as all watershed dams within each tribal boundary.
10. Now, use the scrolling tool on your mouse, or pinch in/out on your track pad to zoom in or out of the map. The legend on the right-hand side of the page shows the size of each watershed dam that corresponds to each map symbol.