| Optima Lake | |
|---|---|
 Optima Lake and Dam | |
  Optima Lake  Optima Lake | |
| Location | Texas County, Oklahoma |
| Coordinates | 36°39′42″N 101°08′12″W / 36.66167°N 101.13667°W[1] |
| Type | Reservoir |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface elevation | 2,766 feet (843 m)[1] |
| Settlements | Hardesty, Oklahoma |
Optima Lake was built to be a reservoir in Texas County, Oklahoma. The site is just north of Hardesty and east of Guymon in the Oklahoma Panhandle.[2]
The earthen Optima Lake Dam (National ID # OK20510) was completed in 1978 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, with a height of 120 feet (37 m), and a length at its crest of 16,875 feet (5,144 m).[3] Although designed to contain a maximum of 618,500 acre-feet (762,900,000 m3) of water, the lake never reached more than five percent of capacity,[4] and remains effectively empty. Rapid declines in streamflow related to large-scale pumping from the high plains aquifer system, also known as the Ogallala Aquifer, coincided with the completion of the dam,[4] to make the reservoir a dramatic example of unanticipated environmental impacts.[5]
The Corps' website states in part (emphasis in original):
All public use areas around the lake are land access points only, and do not offer swimming, boating, fishing or camping opportunities. The water level in the lake has never reached normal pool. Visitors should be aware that the lake's level is very low, and is often times dry. Visitors wanting to picnic or view wildlife should come for the quiet natural setting -- with or without water in the lake area.[6]
The lake surroundings offer few to no amenities since lake camping facilities and buildings were dismantled for public safety by the Corps in 2010.
- ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Optima Lake
- ^ "Optima Lake, Oklahoma". Google Maps. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
- ^ "Optima Lake Dam Details". Archived from the original on June 5, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
- ^ a b Wahl, K & R. L. Tortorelli, 1996. "Changes in flow in the Beaver-North Canadian River Basin Upstream from Canton Lake, Western Oklahoma", USGS WRI 96-4304
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
stateimpact.npr.orgwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Welcome to Optima Lake". US Army Corps of Engineers. Retrieved August 24, 2021.