McGee Creek Reservoir 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 ...

Atoka County, Oklahoma Atoka County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 14,007. Its county seat is Atoka. The county was formed before statehood from Choctaw Lands, and its name honors a Choctaw Chief name ...

. It impounds the waters of McGee Creek and several smaller streams, including Potapo, Panther, Little Bugaboo, Bear, Blue, Mill, and Crooked creeks, all of which are

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...

of Muddy Boggy River. According to the Bureau of Reclamation (BuRec), the reservoir was designed to extend up McGee Creek and up Potapo Creek when the water is at "conservation level."McGee Creek Project." Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of the Interior. April 5, 2013.
Accessed August 27, 2015. McGee Creek Lake is bordered by the McGee Creek Wildlife Management Area, the McGee Creek Natural State Scenic Recreation Area, and McGee Creek State Park. The combined effect of these protected lands is to afford the area the same rural and isolated nature it has always known.

Description

Reservoir

McGee Creek Lake is east of Atoka; west of

Antlers Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally found only on males ...

and north of Farris, Oklahoma The reservoir, which filled at the completion of the

United States Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and opera ...

McGee Dam in 1987, consists of surface area and of shoreline. Its pool elevation is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

and it holds . At flood stage its pool elevation is above sea level and its storage capacity rises to ."McGee Creek", Oklahoma Water Atlas, Oklahoma Water Resources Board, available via http://www.owrb.ok.gov/news/publications/wa/lakes/McGeeCreek.php. The reservoir has a maximum depth of at the dam when the water is at conservation pool level.

Dam and river outlet

The dam is an earth-filled structure that is long and high across McGee Creek. An earthen dike long and high, blocks several saddles on the west side of the reservoir rim. A

riprap Riprap (in North American English), also known as rip rap, rip-rap, shot rock, rock armour (in British English) or rubble, is human-placed rock or other material used to protect shoreline structures against scour and water, wave, or ice erosion. ...

blanket prevents erosion of the upstream sides of both the dam and the dike. The river outlet works located on the east side of the dam release water to McGee Creek under extreme conditions. The works include an intake structure, three conduits (each about in diameter), a stilling basin, associated gates and controls. The discharge channel to McGee Creek can pass flows ranging from to per second.

Municipal water outlet

Water from the lake is routinely pumped to municipal consumers via pipeline. The municipal outlet works has a bypass that diverts directly downstream to McGee Creek. This provides a constant stream of water that is beneficial to marine life. The river outlet works, located on the east side of the dam, handle this function. A separate intake leads to three conduits (each diameter), which terminate in a stilling basin, that has a single pipe leading to the three variable-capacity centrifugal discharge pumps. The pumps discharge into a surge tank at the Atoka Lake, away, via a concrete pipe that is diameter. Other pumps then transfer the water to Oklahoma City.

History

The McGee Creek Project and McGee Creek Authority were established in 1978 to develop and maintain the McGee Creek Reservoir to provide a municipal and industrial water supply for areas in central and southern Oklahoma, including

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

and

Atoka County Atoka County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 14,007. Its county seat is Atoka. The county was formed before statehood from Choctaw Lands, and its name honors a Choctaw Chief named ...

. Under the direct supervision of superintendent Glen Russell, the authority has operated and maintained the reservoir and associated facilities, including an attached water pipeline, a surge tank, a regulating tank, a maintenance complex, and land easements surrounding these facilities. The U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation owns the reservoir, but has granted McGee Creek Authority ownership title to the project office, aqueduct and appurtenances, and other operation and maintenance related facilities.

Notes

References

{{authority control Protected areas of Atoka County, Oklahoma Reservoirs in Oklahoma Buildings and structures in Atoka County, Oklahoma Dams in Oklahoma United States Bureau of Reclamation dams Dams completed in 1987 Bodies of water of Atoka County, Oklahoma