Before construction of the Tulsa-West Tulsa Levee, homes and businesses along the Arkansas river in Tulsa County had few defenses from floods.
The 1908 and 1923 floods displaced over four thousand Tulsans and caused seven hundred fifty thousand dollars in damages, about one hundred twenty million dollars in modern construction costs.
Passage of the Flood Control Act of 1941 authorized the levee’s construction, and in 1945 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District turned over the completed twenty-mile levee system to Tulsa County Drainage District 12 for operations and maintenance.
The Tulsa West Tulsa Levee didn't eliminate Arkansas river floods, but it has helped prevent billions of dollars in flood damages during its...
