Lake Eufaula, sometimes referred to as Eufaula Lake, is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. It is located on the

Canadian River The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River in the United States. It is about long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and Oklahoma. The drainage area is about .Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

and near the town of Eufaula. The lake covers parts of McIntosh County, Pittsburg,

Haskell Haskell () is a general-purpose, statically-typed, purely functional programming language with type inference and lazy evaluation. Designed for teaching, research and industrial applications, Haskell has pioneered a number of programming lang ...

and Okmulgee counties and drains . Water sources include the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

, North Fork Canadian and Deep Fork rivers.O'Dell, Larry. ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. "Lake Eufaula."Retrieved April 20, 201

/ref> It is the largest-capacity lake in the state of Oklahoma with a volume of , a surface area of and of shoreline.

History

Congress approved construction of the dam and lake in 1946 to provide flood control, hydroelectric power, water supply, navigation and recreation. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction of the 975 meter-long (3,199 feet)

Eufaula Dam 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, nav ...

wall in 1956 and was completed in 1964. President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

came to Oklahoma to dedicate the dam on September 25, 1964. The dam holds back a lake area of over . The

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

power station was designed to provide 90,000 kilowatts of electric power from the lake waters. According to the Corps of Engineers in 2015, the Eufaula project cost $121.4 million, and has prevented nearly $575.5 million in flood damages since its completion. The lake attracts about 2.5 million visitors every year.Puit, Glen. "Eufaula Dam has Spent Half Century Protecting the Public." ''McAlester News-Capital''. June 14, 2015.] Accessed November 17, 2015. Eufaula Dam (2015)

Heavy rains in the spring of 2015 caused Lake Eufaula to rise so rapidly that the Corps of Engineers opened the flood gates and released water at rates as high as per second. This was the highest rate since 1990.Tess Maune, "Water Pouring Out Of Eufaula Dam Most In 25 Years." News on 6. May 13, 2015.
Accessed November 16, 2015.

Dam construction

Eufaula Dam is east of the city of Eufaula, Oklahoma. It is long and high. It is constructed with an earthen embankment and concrete. The associated hydroelectric power plant has three turbines, each rated at 30 megawatts, for a total installed capacity of 90 megawatts The dam was approved by the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1946 and construction began in 1956. In February 1964, the river was closed and the generators went operational in September 1964. State Highway 71 (Oklahoma), State Highway 71 runs across the top of the dam.

Recreational facilities

Activities at Lake Eufaula include boating, fishing, swimming, hiking, hunting, golfing and horseback riding. Picnic areas are scattered throughout the area. Facilities include marinas, boat ramps, swim beaches, tent and RV campsites, cabins, group shelters, restrooms, showers and an enclosed fishing dock. These can be found at

Lake Eufaula State Park Lake Eufaula State Park is a Oklahoma state park located in McIntosh County, Oklahoma on Lake Eufaula. It is southwest of Checotah. The park was formerly known as Fountainhead State Park. Fountainhead, together with the neighboring Arrowhea ...

and the physically-separate Arrowhead Area at Lake Eufaula State Park. A well-known tournament lake, Lake Eufaula draws anglers from across the United States to test their skills at catching largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, Kentucky bass, crappie, catfish, sandbass, stripers (below the dam), and other species.

Former State Park Lodges

Oklahoma created two state parks, Arrowhead and Fountainhead, to provide recreational activities and camping facilities at the lake. The tag line in their early advertising was, "Follow the fun to Eufaula." The state borrowed $8 million from the Federal government to build a lodge at each park. However, the lodges did not provide enough money to repay the loan, so ownership reverted to the Federal government. In 1986, the U.S. Economic Administration sold Arrowhead Lodge to the

Choctaw Nation The Choctaw Nation ( Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American territory covering about , occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

and Fountainhead Lodge to a group of private investors. Arrowhead switched hands again in 2000, when a non-profit group with ties to the

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a scientology as a business, bu ...

bought the lodge and converted it into a drug and alcohol treatment facility, now called

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Arrowhead. Fountainhead was sold out of a sheriff's sale to The

Muscogee (Creek) Nation The Muscogee Nation, or Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is a federally recognized Native American tribe based in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The nation descends from the historic Muscogee Confederacy, a large group of indigenous peoples of the South ...

in 2005, amid plans to reopen it as a gaming facility. Those plans never materialized, and the lodge was torn down. However, a 48-acre tract of the land was placed into federal trust status in 2018, opening the way for development of the property as a tourist destination with

gaming Gaming may refer to: Games and sports The act of playing games, as in: * Legalized gambling, playing games of chance for money, often referred to in law as "gaming" * Playing a role-playing game, in which players assume fictional roles * Playin ...

, restaurants and entertainment.

Marinas

List of Marinas on Lake Eufaula. * Area 51 Marina * Belle Starr Marina * Duchess Creek Marina * Eufaula Cove Marina * Evergreen Marina * Lake Eufaula Marina * No. 9 Marina http://www.lakeeufaula.org/no-9-marina/ LakeEufaula.org website accessed 1-31-2020

References

External links

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Eufaula LakeLake Eufaula information, photos and videos on TravelOK.com
Official travel and tourism website for the State of Oklahoma
Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory

Lake Eufaula Online Guide
{{authority control Eufaula Protected areas of McIntosh County, Oklahoma Protected areas of Pittsburg County, Oklahoma Protected areas of Haskell County, Oklahoma Bodies of water of McIntosh County, Oklahoma Bodies of water of Pittsburg County, Oklahoma Bodies of water of Haskell County, Oklahoma 1964 establishments in Oklahoma