Foss Reservoir, also known as Foss Lake, is in

Custer County, Oklahoma Custer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 27,469. Its county seat is Arapaho. The county was named in honor of General George Armstrong Custer. Custer County comprises the Weat ...

on the

Washita River The Washita River () is a river in the states of Texas and Oklahoma in the United States. The river is long and terminates at its confluence with the Red River, which is now part of Lake Texoma () on the TexasOklahoma border. Geography The ...

, about west of

Clinton, Oklahoma Clinton is a city in Custer County, Oklahoma, Custer and Washita County, Oklahoma, Washita counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 9,033 at the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census. History The community began in 1899 when ...

. The reservoir was constructed during 1958–1961 by the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation. The project was known originally as the

Washita Basin Project The Washita Basin Project is a project in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The project provides a municipal and industrial water supply to seven Oklahoma towns. The project also provides over 3,500 acres of land and 7,300 acres of water surface for recr ...

. The lake and dam were named for the community of Foss, Oklahoma, about south of the site. The primary purposes are to regulate flow of the river and to provide water for the cities of Bessie, Clinton, Cordell and Hobart. U. S. Department of the Interior. "Washita Basin Project." Updated April 5, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
/ref> It is western Oklahoma's largest lake
/ref> and lies entirely within

Foss State Park Foss State Park is a Oklahoma state park located on Foss Lake, in southwestern Custer County, Oklahoma, near the city of Foss. Recreational activities include hiking, biking, horseback riding, fishing, boating, swimming and camping. Facilitie ...

Description

The reservoir has a surface area of and a shoreline of . The capacity of the reservoir is . The reservoir serves a catchment area of . The reservoir has a mean depth of and a maximum depth of .

Foss Dam

Dam construction began in October, 1958. The dam is high, wide (at the crest) and long.

Foss State Park

Foss State Park encompasses of land and contains 8 campgrounds, swimming beach, 6 boat ramps, a playground, marina, and a restaurant. It also has of equestrian and multi-use trails. Foss State Park is often mentioned as a target for sale or closure to help close the state's current budget deficit. Already the state has sold a herd of bison as "surplus property." The bison had recently been moved into Foss State Park from another location in western Oklahoma."Herd of bison from Foss State Park up for auction on state’s surplus website." KOCO 5 News. May 9, 2018.
(Video) Accessed July 18, 2018.

Water treatment

The water quality in Lake Foss is extremely

hard Hard may refer to: * Hardness, resistance of physical materials to deformation or fracture * Hard water, water with high mineral content Arts and entertainment * ''Hard'' (TV series), a French TV series * Hard (band), a Hungarian hard rock supe ...

. The Bureau of Reclamation built one of the first

electrodialysis Electrodialysis (ED) is used to transport salt ions from one solution through ion-exchange membranes to another solution under the influence of an applied electric potential difference. This is done in a configuration called an electrodialysis c ...

plants in the United States to process the water before it is delivered to users. The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality constructed a new, updated plant to replace the original in 2002.Wayne Boothe, "Foss." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.'' Retrieved July 2, 2013.
/ref> The new plant, built by Ionics, Inc., would also increase production of potable water for its municipal customers from 3 million to 4.5 million U.S. gallons per day."Oklahoma reservoir expands water desalination facility with Ionics." ''Water & Wastes Digest''. November 6, 2002.
Accessed July 17, 2018. Water is transported from the dam to consumers via three pumping stations and of aqueducts.

References

{{authority control Buildings and structures in Custer County, Oklahoma Reservoirs in Oklahoma Infrastructure completed in 1961 Bodies of water of Custer County, Oklahoma