WATONGA – When Lake Watonga was drained in April, the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation had hoped that it might be refilled by now. But structural problems with the dam have now delayed the project indefinitely.
Chas Patterson, northwest region fisheries supervisor for the ODWC, told the Watonga Republican that the contractors discovered water seeping at the base of the dam when they began work in April.
“Whenever the contractor started clearing the dam and started the work out there,” Patterson said, “along the toe, right there on the bottom side of the back of the dam, there was some water that started coming up to the surface. Basically, there’s a lot of soft material on the backside along the toe. The contractor basically wouldn’t be able to build the dam on that area, the way that it is.”
Engineers are now looking at the problem and trying to “get another plan together,” Patterson said.
The original plan for the Lake Watonga dam involved repairing its primary spillway and renovating emergency spillways. Officials had kept the water level low for the past four years to prevent the continued erosion of the dam, Patterson said in April, but it was time for a permanent solution.
ODWC officials began rescuing and relocating fish from the lake and then drained it completely before repairs began. But that’s when they discovered the unexpected issues.
Patterson said there is currently no timeline for completing the project. He does expect, however, that engineers will have a plan ready within the next month or so. The ODWC is working with the Parkhill engineering firm.
“This week, they told me in the next three or four weeks they ought to have something ready for us to review,” Patterson said.
Roman Nose State Park, adjacent to the lake, announced the Lake Watonga delay on Facebook Friday. “While we can’t do much about that,” it wrote, “we do still have amazing trails to hike, natural springs to explore, fun cabins and campsites, a beautiful lodge, homestyle cooking at Swadley’s Foggy Bottom Kitchen and a variety of family fun at Boecher Lake.”