Spavinaw Water Project
| Lake Spavinaw | |
|---|---|
| Location | Mayes County, Oklahoma |
| Coordinates | 36°22′54″N 95°02′52″W / 36.3818°N 95.0477°WCoordinates: 36°22′54″N 95°02′52″W / 36.3818°N 95.0477°W |
| Primary inflows | Spavinaw Creek |
| Primary outflows | 275,000 cubic feet per second |
| Max. length | 2,400 ft (730 m) |
| Surface area | 1,636 acres (662 ha) |
| Average depth | 75 ft (23 m) |
| Surface elevation | 679 ft (207 m) |
| Settlements | Spavinaw, Oklahoma |
| References | |
The Spavinaw Water Project was a water project to provide water for Tulsa, Oklahoma.
According to an article written by Dr. Fred S. Clinton, a pioneer Tulsa physician, there were a number of freshwater springs in the immediate vicinity. However, it soon became apparent that these could not support the needs of the rapidly expanding population. The city built a pumping plant in 1904 to deliver water from the Arkansas River to consumers via a standpipe atop Standpipe Hill, north of downtown Tulsa. The standpipe has since been demolished.
However, the source soon proved unsatisfactory for domestic use, because the water was high in silt, salt and gypsum. Drilled wells also proved unsuitable, because the water was either hard and salty or ran dry after a relatively short time.
Although bottled water was available, the supply was inadequate to support the requirements of a large population. Tulsans were already buying about 50,000 five-gallon bottles of drinking water a year by 1919. Finding a new source quickly was essential, but this quickly became a political controversy.
In 1915, a committee composed of several leading Tulsa businessmen, began studying alternative proposals for securing a satisfactory water supply. They considered Shell Creek, Spavinaw Creek, Grand River and other local wells. However, they were unable to agree on any one system and disbanded without issuing a report. The next mayor of Tulsa, O. D. Hunt, decided that building a filtration plant would allow usage of water from the Arkansas River at far lower cost. He soon approved a plan to build such a plant for $250,000. Tulsa voted for a bond issue to raise the money, and the plant was built at the future site of Newblock Park. Unfortunately, the process failed to meet design specifications and was soon abandoned. Tulsa water works engineer W. R. Holway, who had been hired to make the plant work properly, recommended that the city spend no more money trying to make the Arkansas River water potable because it also had a higher salt content than sea water.
The next mayor, C. H. Hunt, hired H. A. Pressey to resolve the water supply controversy in 1918. In due course, Pressey accepted Spavinaw Creek as the best source, and rejected the other proposals. Pressey's plan was to build a dam on Spavinaw Creek, construct three intermediate reservoirs and pumping stations to move water to the vicinity of Tulsa, then use the old Arkansas River pump station to get the water into the Tulsa distribution system. Pressey estimated the cost of the project at 5 million dollars. In 1919, Mayor Hubbard called for an election to pass a 5 million dollar bond issue to implement the Pressey proposal. The bond issue passed.
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