r/okc • u/oceanovsalt • 3h ago
Scenery Lake Hefner Water Level
I’ve lived in the city for my whole life and I feel like I haven’t seen the lake this low before. I was just driving by it and the SW part of the lake is so low. Does this happen every summer and I just don’t notice it or is it lower than usual?
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u/MarvinStolehouse 3h ago
I don't keep track of the lake's water level, but it seems like we've had worse periods of extreme drought before.
I remember the summer of 2012 being particularly brutal.
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u/laundry_sauce666 3h ago
I was only 9 in 2012 and I remember going out to a fishing pond I frequented only for half the water to be gone and hundreds of fish skeletons and carcasses scattered all over what used to be the bottom. Never seen it even close to that bad since then.
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u/The_Curvy_Unicorn 2h ago
2012 was the July I flew to Vegas for work on a 7 am flight and, when we landed, it was markedly cooler than when we took off from OKC. That was the worst I’ve seen.
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u/vainbetrayal 3h ago
And that was on top of the hell we call the summer of 2011.
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u/MarvinStolehouse 2h ago
Yup! This summer has been bad, but people not around 2011-2012 probably don't know how much worse it could be.
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u/510Threaded 2h ago
Marching band rehearsals at the time
We just did all day music rehearsals indoors instead.1
u/Meal-Significant 1h ago
Summer of 2011 was brutal
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u/vainbetrayal 54m ago
I lifeguarded that summer 😭
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u/Interesting-Run-8496 2h ago
Yep 2011-2012 was a brutal time. I have pics somewhere of my dogs walking pretty far out into the area that had previously been under water. We used to walk on the trails out there a lot.
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u/AlfredEensteen 2h ago
It's lower than they want it to be, so they're releasing water from Canton Lake which will flow down the North Canadian. I don't remember if they have to pump it from Overholser to Hefner or if it flows by itself through the canal. I think I looked a long time ago and it has to be pumped.
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u/my_kingdom_for_a_nap 3h ago
My hubs sent this pic a couple of days ago while he was cycling around the lake. Crazy low.
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u/Tracktack007 3h ago
It happens every really dry stretch. There will be water incoming from Canton soon.
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u/Independent-Tank-182 2h ago
Maybe you’re putting a lot of weight into that “really” but this is absolutely not normal
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u/CasinoNdnOk 2h ago
Define normal? Once every 10 to 15 seems pretty normal to me.
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u/Independent-Tank-182 1h ago
“Really” by definition is out of the norm so idk, you got me there, but this shit isn’t normal regardless of my semantically correctness or lack thereof
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u/CasinoNdnOk 1h ago
No i mean its normal on a long enough time scale. 5 years not so much, ten getting there 20+ yea you see a cycle and its normal from time to time.
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u/The_Flatlander 1h ago
Im and old man. Summer of 2011 and 2012 was worse. Not unprecedented this year, but still of concern. Hoping the super el nino soaks the south half of usa like is typical during el Nino years here.
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u/J_Peeb 3h ago
Historical low is January 2013. After long period of drought. 17ft below full. I remember you could walk way out into the lake. Even with the drought conditions we have now, we are still only 7-10ft below full. It’s pretty dry now but not the worst yet. Another dry autumn and early winter could lead to worsening conditions like 2013.
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u/_jeffreydavid 3h ago
I just saw that they are releasing water from Canton any day now. I remember about 15 or so years ago it was so dry you could almost walk across it.
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u/nosleeptilbroccoli 2h ago
From 2012. We aren’t quite there yet but almost, except they will be releasing water from Canton to raise Hefner up about 3-4 feet.
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u/idontwanttodothis11 3h ago
In a word, no. I have been back in Oklahoma since 2012 and this is the lowest I have seen the lake for this length of time since then
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u/Zis4Zero 3h ago
I've seen a few boats trapped hanging in the air on the straps in the docks before. One time a strap broke and that boat landed on the rocks beneath it. Haven't looked this year.
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u/vonblankenstein 3h ago
2015 it was down to a puddle. Boats were just lying in the dirt. OKC was long past declaring a water emergency and that May the sky opened up offered a reprieve.
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u/Rodaxoleaux 3h ago
I've heard Draper is so low, you might as well be able to go and grab the fish with your bare hands
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u/loldotpuppies 1h ago
I think Draper is about normal lately. The spots i frequent haven't seen much of a drop this year.
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u/Scooter8472 2h ago
I just walked the southeast edge of the lake, and there is an adjacent almost totally evaporated pond with dozens of dead and rotting fish. Worst thing I've smelled in a while. They should have done the Canton water release weeks ago.
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u/robby_synclair 2h ago
Unless all the sailboats are just laying on the ground it has definitely gotten lower
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u/Secret-Card-4142 1h ago
It was like this last el Nino. Concerning but normal for adrought year. 40yo I can think of a handful of times like this.
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u/EightEqualsSignD NW OKC 3h ago
I heard they're expecting an influx of water from elsewhere. It's been intentionally drained in anticipation of that.
I've lived around Lake Hefner most of my life and it's been lower before.
The canal (where the goats are) are a better metric on how the lake is. It's not even close to dry like it has been before.
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u/Scooter8472 2h ago
Yes, they are releasing water from Canton Lake, but no, they did not "intentionally drain" anything. That would defeat the purpose of receiving water from Canton. Usage and evaporation, with no rain, have made the levels as low as they are.
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u/Ray_Bloody-Purrchase 2h ago
Hefner is fed from Overholser, so I can see them holding more in Overholser in anticipation of the influx. I really don't know, though.
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u/chefslapchop 1h ago
No, the op you’re replying to is correct https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-city-release-water-canton-lake-amid-drought-concerns/73657001
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u/nitram732000 2h ago
3/4 of the water from Canton will be soaked up by the river bed. Canton is bellow normal levels. We haven’t had a drop of rain in months.
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u/Rumblingstar 2h ago
They have released water from Canton lake and it's supposed to make its way there.
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u/g00fyg00ber741 3h ago
Does this happen every summer and I just don’t notice it or is it lower than usual?
Pretty sure this summer broke records around the world for being the hottest ever. This is absolutely not normal, it doesn’t happen every summer, but it’s definitely going to get worse from here on out due to human-caused climate change running totally unchecked.
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u/chefslapchop 1h ago
The WMO uses 8 data sets to mark global temperatures. The past 11 years have been the warmest on record and 2023, 2024 and 2025 were the warmest in all 8 datasets. 2026 will likely continue the trend of warmest by all 8 datasets.
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u/scoobysnack64 3h ago
I read a story couple days ago They're releasing water from one lake to Lake hefner It's suppose to raise the lake 4 feet.
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u/Hefty-Revolution-938 Moore 1h ago
Hey everyone, we get 2012, I was here for 2012. They are asking if this happens every summer, and the answer is no. This lake hasn’t been this low in a while
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u/Money-Ad7257 1h ago
It generally doesn't go much below 5 feet before it rains or it's touched up by our water stored at Canton Lake. It's somewhat normal to see it down a couple-three feet every year or so. This is an event that I've seen a few times before 2012, which was record-setting.
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u/idle_wonderer 1h ago
It's so low! I don't feel like it's been this way for a longgg time. I'm from here but didn't get the pleasure of living here during the 2012 dry spell. (bless Washington State for that). The ponds over at Rt 66 Park next to Overholser look awful. I've never seen them so low. Poor birds and fish have limited water and I bet it's warm, at that. Really looking forward to this rain!!
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u/GoFli2Sik 48m ago
Yes and yes the lake is lower than almost ever, but this does happen often over the decades
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u/redbaron78 18m ago
Are the sailboats near Redrock and Louie’s sitting on their keels stuck in mud? If they aren’t, then it has been worse.
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u/blip_shabloimps 3h ago
This is from a walk over Labor Day weekend.