DENISON DAM (TX-OK) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

DENISON DAM (TX-OK) - Essay Example Ever since the dam was built, the lake has reached its spillway three times; which is 200m or 640 feet above the sea level: in 1957, 1990 and the most recent happened in 2007 (Mathews p44). The dam is renowned for its large size and power production magnitude. Though there are more dams that have been constructed ever since, it makes a good deal of contribution to the general output of the Unites States dams. It has 14 million cubic meters or 18,800,000 cubic yards of rolled –earth fill; it also produces about 250,000 megawatt of hydropower electricity annually. Lake Texoma itself provides about 154,000,000 cubic meters or 125,000-acre feet of water storage to the local communities in five permanent contracts. Additionally, the dam has offered some other benefits such as the federally owned and managed wildlife refuge areas. Through this, it has provided about 47 areas for recreational activities. These recreational areas are owned and run by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Ojeda p85)). There are two state parks – one situated in Texas while the other is situated in Oklahoma. In addition, there is an extra 32,000 hectors or 80,000 acres of land opened for public use as hunting grounds. Lake Texoma has two main sources, which are the Washita river from, the north and Red river from the West. The minor sources of the dam that can be noted are the Little Mineral Creek, Big Mineral Creek, Rock Creek, Buncombe Creek and the Glasses Creek. Lake Texoma then drains to the main outlet, the Red River into the Denison dam. Normal elevation of the pool fluctuates from 615-619 feet which is about 187-189 meters NGVP (National Geodetic Vertical Datum. These limits depend on the time of the year. The flood control section extends the height to about 197 meters (645feet) NGVD (National Geodetic Vertical Datum). Texoma Lake has crested the Denison dam’s spillway at the level of