Oologah Lake Water Level
Oologah Lake is at 640.52 ft today (Oct 19), 2.52 ft above its 638 ft full pool, up 0.23 ft this week.
Oklahoma · Verdigris River
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Water level history
About Oologah Lake
Oologah Lake is a reservoir on the Verdigris River in Oklahoma, operated by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It supplies much of Tulsa's drinking water. Its full summer pool sits at 638 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Oologah Lake's water level
Oologah Lake is the Verdigris River's big reservoir, a Corps of Engineers project at river mile 90.2 in Rogers and Nowata counties, and it was built twice. The first stage, started in July 1950, stalled in 1951 and resumed in 1955, began storing water in May 1963 with a conservation pool at only 608 feet and a flood pool top of 651. The second stage added the gated spillway, seven 40 by 21 foot radial gates set in a saddle about two miles east of the main embankment, plus a separate dike, and it lifted the conservation pool thirty feet to today's 638. Storage for that bigger lake began in January 1971 and the pool first filled on 29 July 1972. At 638 feet the lake covers about 31,000 acres and holds roughly 552,000 acre-feet. The earthen dam stands 137 feet above the streambed, and State Highway 88 runs across its crest.
Most of that conservation pool is spoken for. The Corps' water control manual allocates 342,600 acre-feet to water supply and 168,000 acre-feet to navigation, with the rest set aside for sediment. The Tulsa Metropolitan Water Authority holds the largest contract by far, 285,450 acre-feet, and state wildlife biologists put Oologah's share of Tulsa's water at 40 to 50 percent. Raw water leaves through two city flowlines, one 42 inches across and 16.7 miles long that joins the Bird Creek to Unruh pipeline, and a second of 54 to 72 inches running nearly 23 miles. Smaller contracts serve Collinsville, Claremore, Chelsea, rural water districts and Public Service Company of Oklahoma. The navigation storage exists so that in a drought the Corps can release water to help keep the McClellan Kerr channel usable downstream. The manual is blunt about the result: during dry spells with little inflow, supply and navigation draws pull the pool below normal.
Above 638 feet the lake is a flood control basin, with 23 more feet of storage up to 661 and a surcharge pool to 666. The Corps tries to hold releases to no more than 30,000 cubic feet per second below the dam and a 35 foot stage at the Claremore gauge, and floodwater comes out gradually. Lakeside access roads begin to flood near 640 feet, and at 652.5 every recreation area road except the overlook and Hawthorn Bluff is impassable. The October 1986 flood, when remnants of a hurricane dropped 10.65 inches across the basin, remains the flood of record by inflow, and the Corps let the lake rise above the flood pool to hold down flooding downstream. May 2019 went higher still: the pool reached 665.82 feet, within a fifth of a foot of the surcharge top, and roughly 65,000 cubic feet per second poured through the spillway. Will Rogers's birthplace house was moved about a mile around 1960 to stay above the lake.
Oologah Lake — frequently asked
What is Oologah Lake's normal pool level?
The top of the conservation pool is 638 feet above sea level. That level dates to the lake's second construction stage, which filled in July 1972; before then the pool sat at 608 feet. The spillway gate crest is at 640, so a reading of 638 to 640 is essentially full, and anything higher is stored floodwater the Corps will release as downstream conditions allow.
What is the highest Oologah Lake has ever been?
The highest level in the Corps' published data is 665.82 feet, reached on 26 May 2019, about 28 feet above normal and only 0.18 feet below the top of the surcharge pool. Inflow peaked at 209,500 cubic feet per second, and the Corps reported a record release from the dam that spring. In June 2025 the lake climbed to about 656 feet, its highest since 2019.
How much of Tulsa's water comes from Oologah Lake?
Tulsa draws raw water from Oologah and from the Spavinaw and Eucha lakes. The Tulsa Metropolitan Water Authority contracts for 285,450 acre-feet of Oologah's storage, and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation has put the lake's share of Tulsa's supply at 40 to 50 percent. The water travels to the city through two flowlines, the older one tying into the pipeline serving Unruh Reservoir beside the A.B. Jewell treatment plant.
Why is Oologah Lake low?
Oologah has no power plant, so a falling lake almost always means dry weather plus withdrawals. About 342,600 acre-feet of the conservation pool belongs to water supply customers and 168,000 acre-feet to navigation releases for the Arkansas River system, and the Corps notes that heavy demand during droughts with little inflow drags the pool below 638. Since 2014 the lowest hourly reading was 634.84 feet in October 2021.
At what level do Oologah Lake parks and roads flood?
Access roads to low areas start taking water at about 640 feet, just two feet over normal pool, and the Corps' manual describes recreation access roads as inundated by 642. At 652.5 feet every park road except the overlook and Hawthorn Bluff is impassable. Round the clock surveillance at the dam begins when the pool reaches 658 feet.
What happened to Will Rogers's birthplace when the lake was built?
The house where Will Rogers was born, on his family's Dog Iron Ranch east of the town of Oologah, stood in the path of the reservoir. Around 1960 it was moved about a mile to higher ground on the same ranch, where it has been open to visitors since. The Oklahoma Historical Society transferred the 162 acre site to the Cherokee Nation on 12 June 2023.
Other lakes near Oologah Lake
- Skiatook LakeOK
- Lake of the ArbucklesOK
- Lake TenkillerOK
- Keystone LakeOK
- Lake TexomaTX/OK
- Kaw LakeOK
See current levels for all 17 Oklahoma lakes and reservoirs →
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