Flood control dams in Cherokee County

              Watershed Dams In Cherokee County
Oklahoma has 129 USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS) as sisted
watershed projects in 64 counties. Over 2,100
watershed dams have been built in the state with
financial and technical assistance from NRCS
authorized through Public Law 78-534, Flood
Control Act of 1944 (Washita RiverWatershed) and
Public Law 83-566Watershed Protection and Flood
Prevention Program.
Watershed projects address a myriad of natural
resource issues such as flooding, soil erosion, water
quality, animal waste management, irrigation water
management, water supply, wetland development
or enhancement, fish and wildlife habitat and
recreation. Many of these watershed projects also
include conservation practices such as terraces,
waterways, ponds, gully control, and pasture and
rangeland plantings.
Operation and Maintenance of
Watershed Projects
The annualoperation andmaintenance ofdams and
their components is amajor responsibility for project
sponsors (local units of governments, usually
conservation districts, conservancy districts, or city
or county governments).
Operation andmaintenance of watershed dams can
be expensive and labor intensive, but is necessary to
ensure the dams function as designed and remain
safe.Maintenance work includes clearing trees from
dams and spillway, repairing soil erosion damage,
repairing damage to the spillway and dams after
heavy rainstorms, and keeping the inlet towers
cleared of debris.
Operation and Maintenance Needs
$11.7 million is needed to meet operation and
maintenance needs on all watershed dams in the
state for fiscal years 2009-2012.
Fourteen Mile Creek 2 2 $51,991 70 10 30 9,440
*Monetary benefits include reduction in flood damages and may include other benefits such as soil erosion control, recreational
areas, irrigation water, municipal and industrial water supply, and wildlife habitat. (Price Base 2007). December 2008
Rehabilitation ofAging Dams
Oklahoma has 321watershed dams that will exceed their 50-year design
life span by 2009 and that number will increase to 806 by 2013.
The two dams in the Fourteen Mile CreekWatershed were built in 1968.
SomeOklahoma damswill need rehabilitation to remainsafe and protect
the people that live orwork downstream. It is estimated that $30 million
will be needed to rehabilitate the highest priority of these dams during
the next five years. Oklahoma currently has several rehabilitationprojects
in various stages of planning, design or construction.
NRCS assistance is available to rehabilitate aging watershed dams with
65 percent federal cost-share. Local project sponsors provide 35 percent
of the rehabilitation costs.
AnnualWatershed Benefits
Watershed Dams in Dams in *Monetary Farms / Ranches Bridges Wetlands Reduced
Name Watershed Cherokee Co. Benefits Benefited Benefited Enhanced/Created Sedimentation
(acres) (tons of soil)
Cherokee County Conservation District
cherokeeccd@conservation.ok.gov
1009 S. Muskogee Ave.
Tahlequah,OK 74464-4733
918/456-1919