{"id":31642,"date":"2019-06-27T10:01:17","date_gmt":"2019-06-27T15:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=31642"},"modified":"2019-06-27T10:29:37","modified_gmt":"2019-06-27T15:29:37","slug":"oklahoma-dams-near-expiration-dates-as-scientists-predict-more-extreme-weather","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2019\/06\/27\/oklahoma-dams-near-expiration-dates-as-scientists-predict-more-extreme-weather\/","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma dams near expiration dates as scientists predict more extreme weather"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/p>\n

Claire Donnelly \/ KGOU<\/p>\n

Stillwater’s Boomer Dam is one of more than 4,700 dams in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\ufeff<\/span><\/p>

Nearly all Oklahoma residents \u2013 about 93 percent \u2013 live within 20 miles of a flood control dam, according to the Oklahoma Conservation Commission.<\/p>

The state has the largest number of watershed dams in the country.<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019m sure many people driving down the road, looking over here, don\u2019t recognize this is a dam,\u201d said Larry Caldwell, standing on the sloping earthen embankment of Boomer Dam in Stillwater. Caldwell is a watershed specialist with the Conservation Commission and retired from the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s Natural Resources Conservation Service.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>

Record rainfall <\/strong><\/p>

During heavy rains, dams collect, retain and then slowly release water to keep nearby rivers and lakes from overflowing.<\/p>

Many of Oklahoma\u2019s flood structures\u00a0were built as part of the United States Department of Agriculture\u2019s Watershed Program. The state also has thousands\u00a0of dams managed by other agencies, from the Army Corps of Engineers to local homeowners associations.<\/p>

Dams across the state were pushed to their limits during recent flooding.<\/p>

In May, parts of Oklahoma got between 13 and 26 inches of rain. State Climatologist Gary McManus called the rainfall totals \u201crecord-setting.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWe calculated about $16.5 million dollars worth of damages would have occurred had the dams in north central Oklahoma not existed,\u201d Caldwell said.<\/p>

\u201cI wasn\u2019t really sure how they would hold up\u201d<\/strong><\/p>

Two-thirds of the watershed dams managed by the Conservation Commission have met or exceeded their 50-year design life, Caldwell said. The oldest dam, in the Cloud Creek Watershed near Cordell, was built\u00a0in 1948.<\/p>

The average age\u00a0for all of Oklahoma\u2019s dams is 53 years, according to the National Inventory of Dams.<\/p>

Older sites are more vulnerable. Without upkeep, soil can erode or pipes can rust, making the dams a greater danger to people downstream.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sue Ogrocki\/AP Photo<\/p>\n

Flooding in Kingfisher, Okla. is pictured Tuesday, May 21, 2019. Flooding following heavy rains was an issue across the state. (AP Photo\/Sue Ogrocki)<\/p>\n<\/div>

The Oklahoma Water Resources Board categorized about 400 of the state\u2019s structures\u00a0as \u201chigh hazard,\u201d meaning if they fail, residents could die. An additional 200 dams are considered \u201csignificant hazard,\u201d which means their failure could cause millions of dollars in damage and wash out roads, bridges, and electrical substations.<\/p>

Part of the plan to keep people safe from dangerous flooding is to inspect the dams for weaknesses. Anita Kaufman checked the 34 Payne County flood control structures she manages after the May storms.<\/p>

\u201cI wasn\u2019t really sure how they would hold up, being [as] aged as they are,\u201d Kaufman said.<\/p>

\u201cThis has given me renewed confidence that they\u2019re still doing their jobs, even at 50-plus years old.\u201d<\/p>

But she said continued state and federal money is vital.<\/p>

\u201cIf we start losing funding and we can\u2019t do any maintenance or operation on them, I believe they will start to fail. To lose a dam is a potential loss of life,\u201d she said.<\/p>

Oklahoma\u2019s 2020 budget included an additional $1.5 million for rural dam improvement. The state also sold about $5 million in bonds on behalf of the Conservation Commission in April.<\/p>

But the Conservation Commission\u2019s Larry Caldwell estimated it would take an average about $2 million per structure for each of the state\u2019s 2,107 watershed dams to meet current standards.<\/p>

Oklahoma\u2019s thousands of additional flood control structures make that financial need even greater.<\/p>

When it rains, it pours<\/strong><\/p>

Oklahoma will likely see more heavy rain in the future due to climate change.<\/p>

\u201cWe do know that heavy precipitation events, more intense precipitation events, have been increasing over time. And that is expected to continue to increase as we warm the atmosphere,\u201d said State Climatologist Gary McManus.<\/p>

Warmer air can hold a greater amount of water vapor, meaning more water will fall as precipitation.<\/p>

McManus calls this the hydrologic cycle, or water cycle, \u201con steroids.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cIf the weather changes, the infrastructure has to change with it, at least in the long term,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At least 30 percent\u00a0of Oklahoma dams are at the end of their 50-year design life. With climate change expected to bring an increase in heavy precipitation, can they hold up?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":208,"featured_media":31644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"page-noFeature.php","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[491],"tags":[1103,549,1104,1106,1107,1102,1105],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31642"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/208"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31642"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31669,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31642\/revisions\/31669"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}