Bluestem Lake is a reservoir in

Osage County, Oklahoma Osage County is the largest county by area in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Created in 1907 when Oklahoma was admitted as a state, the county is named for and is home to the federally recognized Osage Nation. The county is coextensive with the Os ...

, and is home to the world famous Plan B Yacht Club, it's about northwest of

Pawhuska Pawhuska ( osa, 𐓄𐓘𐓢𐓶𐓮𐓤𐓘 / hpahúska, ''meaning: "White Hair"'', iow, Paháhga) is a city in and the county seat of Osage County, Oklahoma, United States. It was named after the 19th-century Osage chief, ''Paw-Hiu-Skah'', wh ...

. Alternate names are City of Pawhuska Lake and Pawhuska Lake. It covers the convergence of Middle Bird Creek and South Bird Creek. The outflow is Middle Bird Creek. The lake has a surface of and a shoreline of . Coordinates are:Latitude: 36°42'19.7" Longitude: -96°25'9.06". Elevation above sea level is . Completed in 1958, Meador, Granger. "Bluestem Lake and Bird Creek School." March 13, 2017.
Accessed April 9, 2017, the lake is a secondary water source for Pawhuska and also was designed for flood control and recreation.

Capacity change 1958-2011

The

Oklahoma Water Resources Board The Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) is an agency in the government of Oklahoma under the Governor of Oklahoma. OWRB is responsible for managing and protection the water resources of Oklahoma as well as for planning for the state's long-ran ...

(ORWB) performed a hydrographic study in 2011 to determine changes in certain lake parameters since it was designed in 1958. Data obtained suggested that the lake had lost about 15 percent of its original capacity, but only 25 acres or 2.8 percent of its original surface area. The loss in capacity could be explained by sedimentation. ORWB admitted that these conclusions could be explained that different measurement techniques may have been employed in the earlier study, and recommended replicating the 2011 study 10 to 15 years in the future to gain a better understanding of sedimentation effects on the lake."Hydrographic Study of Bluestem Lake." Oklahoma Water Resources Board. Final Report. October 31, 2011.
Accessed October 26, 2018.

Fish habitat installation

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) installed artificial habitats in Bluestem Reservoir on December 18, 2017. Consisting of pipes cemented into cinder blocks, they are called "spider blocks" because of their resemblance to large spiders. Each block is by . There are 27 blocks in each habitat area.Day, Chris. "Fish habitat added at Bluestem." ''Pawhuska Journal-Capital''. January 9, 2018.
Accessed October 26, 2018. ODCW said that crappie, sunfish and bass are especially attracted to these structures. The new habitats have been installed at the north end of the Bluestem Dam spillway.

References

{{authority control Bodies of water of Osage County, Oklahoma Reservoirs in Oklahoma Infrastructure completed in 1958