First look at plan to get, keep water in the Arkansas River

$300 million would be used to build, maintain river updates

A task force was formed at the end of 2013 to come up with a plan to improve the Arkansas River in Tulsa.

The Arkansas River Infrastructure Task Force, chaired by Tulsa City Councilor G.T. Bynum, has a first-draft proposal ready to share with the public.

The plan would be to build three new low-water dams in the river, one near Sand Springs, one in the south Tulsa/Jenks area and a third in Bixby.

The rest would go toward updating the existing Zink Dam and the levee system.

The new dams would take up much of the $300 million dollars needed to execute the plan.

Other funding would be used to operate and maintain the new dams.

All this money would come from a 0.3 percent sales tax, which is half of the expiring Vision 2025 tax.

Five meetings are planned around Tulsa to let the public give feedback.

  • Wednesday, June 10; Districts 5 & 6; Martin Regional Library; 2601 S. Garnett Road
  • Monday, June 15; Districts 7 & 8; Hardesty Regional Library; 8316 E. 93rd St.
  • Monday, June 22; Districts 1 & 3; Rudisill Regional Library; 1520 N. Hartford Ave.
  • Monday, June 29; Districts 2 & 9; Jewish Federation of Tulsa; 2021 E. 71st St.
  • Wednesday, July 1; District 4 & Citywide; Perkins Family Auditorium - OU-Tulsa Learning Center; 4502 E. 41st St.