How Does Water From Canton Lake Reach Hefner Lake?

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — The hot, dry summer took its toll on Lake Hefner, one of Oklahoma City’s main water sources. There’s very little rain in the forecast, Army Corps. A team of engineers, along with the Oklahoma City Water Services Foundation, decided to draw water from Canton Lake to help restore levels in Lake Hefner. This process began with the gradual release of water from Canton Lake on the afternoon of Tuesday, October 22.

In total, 16,000 acre-feet of water will be released from Canton Lake, resulting in a 10-foot drop in the water level there. After three to five days, water will begin to flow into Lake Hefner, causing a one-meter increase in the water level there.

This article will show how water travels from Canton Lake to Hefner Lake through both natural and man-made means.

Below are some pictures taken on Wednesday morning, October 23rd. Although water from Canton Lake begins being released the day before, it will take three to five days for the water to travel the 70 miles or so to its final destination. In the pictures below you can see how low the lake is. We plan to photograph the water levels starting to rise in the coming days.

Canton Lake is a man-made lake located in Blaine and Dewey counties in northwestern Oklahoma along the North Canadian River. The dam in the southwestern corner of the lake creates the lake.

When water withdrawal is required, the dam allows more water to flow into the North Canadian River. The North Canadian River then flows naturally through Blaine and Canadian Counties and enters Oklahoma City from the west. There, it helps form Lake Overholser, another important reservoir for Oklahoma City.

The North Canadian River flows south from Overholser Lake, then turns east to downtown. This means that the North Canadian River never empties into Lake Hefner. A key part of this equation for getting water to Lake Hefner lies just north of Lake Overholser.

Between the Stinchcomb Wildlife Refuge and Overholser Lake, the North Canadian River runs parallel with Route 66. Here the river makes a sharp turn to the right (south) and passes under Route 66 on its way toward downtown.

However, there is a check station just north of Route 66 at this turn. When needed, water can be diverted through a canal system that then empties into Lake Hefner. This is the critical point where the water will be directed and how the water can get between the two sources.

Once the water passes through this control station, a channel will meander from northwest Oklahoma City to Lake Hefner.

Most of this channel can be seen from satellite. The water moves northward across the Council just west of Wiley Post Airport and then turns further east. A small portion of the canal system is underground at the intersection of Northwest Expressway and Wilshire Boulevard.

Essentially, the water follows the natural path of the North Canadian River. Instead of turning right to go south from Route 66 on the northern edge of Lake Overholser, the water will go left from the control station and into the man-made canal system.

The canal system discharges into the southwest corner of Lake Hefner at Canal Street and West Lakeshore Drive. This is just west of Lake Hefner Golf Club and just a few blocks north of the Northwest Expressway.

Like the beginning of the canal system, there is always some water in it. However, the pictures below show how dry the canal mouth was as of Wednesday, October 23.

Canton Lake last released water for Lake Hefner in August 2022. This was a nearly eight-foot release from Canton Lake, which means this one-foot rise will be a larger draft than last time.

Unfortunately, drought conditions will worsen next week with very little rainfall and very high temperatures. This water withdrawal is only a temporary solution. We need a rainy season for the lake to regenerate. This may be difficult to do as we enter a La Nina winter, which has historically been drier for us.

As mentioned above, we will check the water levels in Lake Hefner in a few days to try to see if the water is rising.