Sardis Lake (Oklahoma)
| Sardis Lake | |
|---|---|
Aerial view of Dam and Lake
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| Location | Pushmataha / Latimer counties, Oklahoma, US |
| Coordinates | 34°39′30″N 95°22′44″W / 34.65833°N 95.37889°WCoordinates: 34°39′30″N 95°22′44″W / 34.65833°N 95.37889°W |
| Type | reservoir |
| Primary inflows | Jackfork Creek |
| Primary outflows | Jackfork Creek |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | 14,360 acres (58 km2) |
| Average depth | 17 ft (5.2 m) |
| Water volume | 274,333 acre·ft (338.4 hm3) |
| Shore length1 | 117 mi (188 km) |
| Surface elevation | 599 ft (183 m) |
| Islands | None |
| Settlements | Clayton |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Sardis Lake is a reservoir in Pushmataha County and Latimer County in Oklahoma, USA, named for the now-defunct town of Sardis, Oklahoma. The dam impounding the lake is located approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Clayton.
Sardis Lake is the focus of a lawsuit by the Chickasaw Nation against the Governor of Oklahoma, (Chickasaw v. Fallin) alleging that the state has ignored the tribe's rights to the water in the lake. The outcome of this case has the potential to become a major legal decision regarding not only this issue, but the rights of Native American tribes in other areas.
The lake covers 14,360 acres (58 km2) with 117 miles (188 km) of shoreline. The lake is an impoundment of Jackfork Creek, a tributary of the Kiamichi River. The lake is also 45 miles (72 km) east of McAlester, Oklahoma. It drains an area of 275 square miles (710 km2).
The lake's normal pool elevation is 599 feet (183 m) above sea level. Its storage capacity is 274,330 acre feet (338,380,000 m3). At flood stage its elevation is 607 feet (185 m) above sea level and its capacity rises to 396,900 acre feet (489,600,000 m3).
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, led by Donald Mahaffey, constructed the dam and lake between 1977 and 1982 under a contract with the state of Oklahoma for the purpose of selling water to municipalities and industrial customers in Oklahoma. Oklahoma agreed to make 50 annual payments and to pay the costs of operating the dam and lake. However, the state was unable to sell the water it needed to recover its costs, so the state discontinued payments to the federal government in 1997. The federal government sued the state for breach of contract and recovery of funds. The case wound its way through the courts and eventually Oklahoma lost the case when the Supreme Court declined to hear the case. Thus, the Corps of Engineers legally owns Sardis Lake.
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