Why Oklahoma Built More Lakes Than Any Other State

• Logan Layden
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  Logan Layden is a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma. He is a native of McAlester, Oklahoma and graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2009. Logan spent three years as a state capitol reporter and local host of All Things Considered for NPR member station KGOU in Norman and six years as a reporter with StateImpact from 2011 to 2017. Most recently, he was news director for McAlester Radio before returning to public radio in 2020.

Oklahoma Historical Society

Oklahoma Governor Robert S. Kerr, shown here when he was in office in the 1940s.

Two giants of Oklahoma politics — Senator Robert S. Kerr and House Speaker Carl Albert — used their influence to help bring the state’s untamed natural water resources under control following World War II.

The result: Oklahoma has more than 200 manmade lakes. That’s more than any other state. With demand for water increasing, is another lake and reservoir-building boom possible?