Arkansas River 1986 Flood in Tulsa

[RecycleMichael]

This month is the 25th anniversary of the 1986 Arkansas River flood that many of us remember. This was a letter to the paper that my mother wrote five years ago.

Lessons learned from the 1986 flood
By Ann Patton

(originally published in Reader's Forum, Tulsa World 10/1/06)

   Tulsans have reason to celebrate. This week marks 20 years since Tulsa's last major flood.

   People with long memories will know how remarkable that is. In the 1970s and '80s, Tulsa was flooding about every other year. Tulsa County earned the embarrassing distinction of having nine federal flood disasters in 15 years, the nation's worst flood record. Thousands of houses were ruined. People died. Our national reputation was a joke. In late September 1986, the remnants of southwestern Mexico's Hurricane Paine parked uphill from Tulsa and dumped nearly 2 feet of rain northwest of Keystone Lake. The river swelled. The Corps of Engineers had to open Keystone Dam's floodgates and send a torrent downstream -- through Sand Springs, Tulsa, Jenks and Bixby.

   It was not the first flood along the Arkansas River -- in fact, the river flooded every few years for most of Tulsa's history. But 1986 was the first serious Arkansas River flood at Tulsa since Keystone Dam was completed in '64. Popular thought held that the river would never flood again -- although the corps warned that Keystone could overflow every 25 years, more or less. The crisis lasted a week and at its peak, about 300,000 cubic feet per second of water swept through Tulsa. While the dam was safe, no one knew how high the water would rise and whether the sand levees (built quickly in World War II) would hold at Sand Springs, Tulsa and Jenks. The corps feared a catastrophic failure of the levee system. The Sand Springs levee was breached but volunteers managed to plug it.

   Thousands were evacuated. Hundreds stuffed sandbags -- with little effect -- along the river, including in the bowl that was Riverside Drive south of 21st Street. On the west bank, the river swamped Garden City up to the rooftops, and the trapped, polluted water lingered for days, like a mini-New Orleans. More than 1,800 homes and businesses went under water. Tulsa County damages were estimated at $63.5 million (in '86 dollars), $32.5 million at Sand Springs and $13.4 million at Bixby. The same week, almost all streams in northeastern Oklahoma and southeastern Kansas rose out of their banks causing $283 million in damages, the corps reported.

   When the water began to recede, it was clear that River Parks had gone almost under water. Officials hosed off the grass and the joggers were back on track. That narrow, green band of River Parks gave us the needed margin of safety. There are at least two reasons that we haven't had a major flood in Tulsa in two decades. We have learned to build more wisely, more respectful of the natural laws of water and land, and monster rains have not cycled our way. There are new reasons to worry about big storms since lakes, dams and dikes don't last forever. Keystone Lake is slowly silting in and a filled bathtub can't hold much water. The dam and levees are aging, and buildings are creeping closer to the capricious river, which some mistakenly believe has been tamed.

   The '86 flood proved that the Arkansas River needs its channel and banks open to carry floodwaters. The Arkansas River drains 22,000 square miles of land above Tulsa. Experts know heavy rains are possible and a worst-case scenario flood at Tulsa could be bigger than the one in 1986. The flood showed that it's possible to live with a river, but you have to live by its rules -- because, as they say in Argentina: "The river always wins."

   Are we in danger of forgetting? Hubris rises in dry years. Those who remember the '86 flood celebrate the free flow of the Arkansas River and the peaceful, green fringe alongside it. May Tulsans continue to respect and preserve the river so we can enjoy it for generations to come.

Ann Patton, Tulsa, is a writer and consultant who was part of the team that created Tulsa's award-winning floodplain management program.

[RecycleMichael]

www.scsc.k12.ar.us/.../ ScottsBluff.htm

Prior to human intervention, the Arkansas River was one of the most meandering waterways in the United States. Its waters flowed from a mere trickle at its source to rushing whitewater in its upper valleys. Run-off from the spring thaw and seasonal rains caused problems for those living along the river. Flooding on the river was frequent and costly, but today due to the work of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, the river has become one of the country's greatest assets.
The Arkansas River, at 1450 miles, is the fourth longest river in the United States. It is one of the longest tributaries in the Mississippi-Missouri system. Beginning near Leadville, Colorado, the river grows gradually as it makes its way through Salida, Colorado and Canon City, Colorado. It picks up speed as it travels through Royal Gorge then flows through Pueblo before being joined by the St. Charles River. The Arkansas River continues past Las Animas, Colorado and Pikes Peak. Rolling into Kansas, the river flows past Cimarron, Dodge City and Wichita before entering Oklahoma. In Oklahoma, the river passes through Tulsa, Ft. Gibson and Muskogee, crossing into Arkansas near Fort Smith. It crosses the state of Arkansas and empties into the Mississippi River about 600 miles North of New Orleans.
Elevation
The Arkansas River drops almost 10,000 feet on a trip from Leadville, Colorado to Pueblo, Colorado. At Mt. Democrat, the elevation is 14,145 feet. When it reaches Pueblo, Colorado the elevation is 4,600 feet.

History
In 1541, Spanish explorers discovered the Arkansas River before they found the Mississippi. Francisco Vasquez de Coronado forded the river near present day Dodge City, Kansas. A short time later, Hernado de Soto was exploring the lower part of the Arkansas River. His explorations resulted in his discovery of the Mississippi River. He traveled down the Mississippi to the Arkansas River near the latter day Arkansas Post. Arkansas Post, originally Poste Aux Arcansas, was the first known white settlement in the Louisiana Territory. The settlement was established by Henri de Tonti in 1686.
In 1783, the Colbert Incident, the only Revolutionary War skirmish west of the Mississippi, was fought at Arkansas Post.

Part of the Ordinance of 1787 states that "the navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence . . . shall be common highways and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of said territory as to the citizens of the United States . . . without any tax, impost, or duty . . ."

This ordinance was the basis for the free waterways policy of the United States during the past two hundred years.


In 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory, including the Arkansas River Basin. The acquisition doubled the size of the country.


Merriwether Lewis and William Clark were commissioned by Thomas Jefferson to explore the Missouri River and its tributaries. The president also asked William Dunbar, a Mississippi planter/scientist/surveyor and George Hunter, a Philadelphia chemist/apothecary to lead an expedition on the Red, Black and Ouachita Rivers up to "the hot springs." The two men and their crew mapped, described flora and fauna, tested the waters of the Hot Springs area and sent Thomas Jefferson the first report on the huge territory that had just been purchased from France.


The War of 1812 brought increased international tensions that resulted in decreased legislative support for the improvement of inland waterways. The war heightened the need for a more reliable internal transportation system.


Fort Smith was established near where the Arkansas River enters the state of Arkansas in 1817.


In 1824, Congress authorized federal public works in the first river improvement bill and the first harbor improvement bill. The General Survey Act authorized the President to use Army Engineers to survey road and canal routes "of national importance, in a commercial or military point of view."


From 1837 to 1839, the Chickasaw and Cherokee came up the Arkansas River on flatboats as had the Creeks before them.


From 1880 to 1905, twelve irrigation canals were constructed to divert water from the Arkansas River between the Colorado state line and Great Bend. The canals were meant to irrigate between 5,000 and 100,000 acres. By 1890, 20,818 acres of land in Kansas were irrigated by the Arkansas River.


The rapid expansion of irrigation in Colorado from 1900 to 1910 caused the flow of the Arkansas River to cease during July and August.


The 1920s saw the beginning of advocacy for river development. The strongest supporters of the idea were Newt Graham of Tulsa and Clarence Byrns from Fort Smith.
For the next fifty years representatives from Oklahoma and Arkansas would fight for the completion of a navigable Arkansas River in both states.


The flood of 1927, the greatest ever known, struck the Arkansas River valley when an eight to ten foot wall of water--with flow rates registered at 750,000 cubic feet per second--rushed through the valley and emptied into the Mississippi. The flood destroyed nearly every levee along the river downstream from Fort Smith. The flood led to the development of the Arkansas River Flood Control Association.


In July of 1935, the Army Corps of Engineers reported to Congress that navigation of the Arkansas River was technically feasible, but not economically practical.


On July 24, 1946 Congress passed the Rivers and Harbors Act which authorized the building of the McClellan-Kerr River Navigation System. The plan provided for hydropower, flood control, recreation, and navigation from Catoosa, Oklahoma to the Mississippi River.


In 1954, Arkansas River navigation is "deferred for further study" until a major engineering problem could be solved. The millions of tons of silt flowing down the river annually prevented the navigation of the river. A way had to be found whereby the river could clean itself and reduce the sedimentary flow. Professor Hans Albert Einstein, son of the famous scientist, proposed that the river be deepened, straightened, and narrowed. This would let the faster water flush out sediment, solving the problem. A model was built at the Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg, Mississippi to test the plan. It proved successful, and construction of the system proceeded.


In 1956, Oklahoma Congressman Page Belcher persuaded President Eisenhower to put the funding for the Arkansas River Navigation project back into the White House budget after he refused to spend money that had already been allocated because he felt it would be a commitment to complete funding for the entire navigation system.
In 1957, construction and completion of locks and dams on the river began.


On January 1, 1963, Senator Robert S. Kerr of Oklahoma, one of the major proponents of the navigation system died. Senator John L. McClellan of Arkansas took up the fight for funds to complete the Arkansas River Navigation project.


In April of 1965, the first Dardanelle Lock and Dam No. 10 power generating unit went online.


In June of 1967, Norrell Lock and Dam No. 1 was put into operation.


On October 4, 1968 navigation on the Arkansas River opened to Little Rock.


On January 4, 1969, the first commercial barges docked at the Port of Little Rock, and by the end of 1969 the river was navigable to Fort Smith.


On December 30, 1970, the Arkansas River was navigable for 450 miles from the Mississippi River to Catoosa, near Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Arkansas River had been tamed to make the port of Catoosa the world's most inland port.

[Teatownclown]

Helluva job Stan Williams and Charles Hardt not to mention the Corps of Engineers and JD Metcalf who was the right person at the right time to be commissioner ... This is the single greatest accomplishment in city history when it comes to infrastructure engineering and build out while correcting an enormous mistake in many past years of land development requirements.

[Teatownclown]

I'm going to stop short of praising Mayor Inhoff... goes against my grain.

[RecycleMichael]

I'm going to stop short of praising Mayor Inhoff... goes against my grain.

Dick Crawford was Mayor for this flood event.

[dbacks fan]

The C of E was to partly to blame because of a broken flow gage upstream from Keystone.

[Teatownclown]

Dick Crawford was Mayor for this flood event.

But who ok'ed the Metcalf decision to hire Stan and Charlie and create the Storm Water Management Department ( you know, more bureaucracy more government more medling in our lives for the greater good?)?.   Maybe it was Dick Crawford who I still think was the best modern day mayor we have had during a time that was about as bad an economy as it ever got in Teatown.

[dbacks fan]

Dick 'Mayor of Columbus OH' Crawford, wanted to build double decker streets to bypass traffic, best mayor? HAHAHAHAHAAHAAAHHAAAAHHHH!!!!!!

[Teatownclown]

He did? Well, all I recall is he was out there getting business for Tulsa at a time we were going down fast.

[heironymouspasparagus]

I'm going to stop short of praising Mayor Inhoff... goes against my grain.

He was the one who pushed the "Jim Inhofe Memorial Sewage Lagoon" - a low water dam (if memory serves, downstream below the railroad bridge walkway).  This was before Sand Springs got their sewer plant under control.  Seems like that was the one that had to be dynamited out to build the one at the bridge now...  Anyone remember better?

[Transport_Oklahoma]

I remember seeing National Guardsman standing in the middle intersections of a closed Peoria? in the evacuation zone with really big guns to discourage looting.

[Conan71]

I remember seeing National Guardsman standing in the middle intersections of a closed Peoria? in the evacuation zone with really big guns to discourage looting.

Sure you weren't in Beirut?  I don't remember The Guard doing anything but helping stack sandbags close to Riverside that weekend.

Amazing what 25 years does to our memories.

[dbacks fan]

IIRC the Bel Aire Shopping Centern was a staging area for sand bagging. The flooding on Brook Side was from Crow Creek flowing backwards, and the storm water drains along Peoria in that area flowed backwards as well.

[AquaMan]

There were rent-a-cops sprinkled around that may have been mistaken for Guardsmen. One of them scared me. I rode my bike down to Riverside at 21st to see the spectacle. A uniform cop had just told me where they were allowing spectators and then moved on.  A few minutes later, apparently a policeman was yelling at me from the bridge  to move, but I didn't hear him or see him. Suddenly this guy in a uniform (non TPD) comes out of nowhere, hand on his holster and yelling at me to back off or risk being arrested! He actually pulled his gun out of his holster. I guess he thought I was a looter or just loved showing people his gun.

Its not like we had floods all the time. There was some tension and some disorganization.

[Conan71]

Aqua, you would appreciate this one: we paddled around the sod farms down in Bixby in a canoe.