The history and challenges of the Tulsa West Tulsa Levee.
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 80-year history.
In 1986, remnants of Hurricane Paine dropped up to twenty inches of rain in the Arkansas River watershed in six days forcing Keystone Dam to release 307,000 cubic feet of water per second.
The storm caused flooding along the Arkansas River in Tulsa County, but volunteers and emergency responders helped secure the Tulsa West Tulsa Levee with sandbags, and the levee stood its ground.
In 2019, a series of storms produced record rainfall and forced keystone dam to release between 190,000 and 275,000 cubic feet of water per second over an 11-day period.
During this time, the levee endured more prolonged stress than in any prior flood.
Federal, state, and municipal agencies monitored the levee, mobilized auxiliary pumps, and constructed ring dikes to support the structure, and once again, through extraordinary efforts, the Tulsa West Tulsa Levee held its ground.
The Army Corps of Engineers, the State of Oklahoma, Tulsa County, and the City of Tulsa are working to keep the levee in the flood fight through the Tulsa West Tulsa Levee Safety Project.
The project includes placement of filtered berms, installation of new and improved toe drains, and construction of additional emergency access routes to fight erosion, improve drainage, and promote levee access for construction and maintenance.
Addressing critical needs today will help the levee fight Arkansas River floods in the future.
If you live in the leveed area, or if you have questions about this important levee safety project, please reach out to us at the email or phone number on the screen or visit the Tulsa Levee Safety Project webpage for project updates.
We welcome your questions and look forward to hearing from you.
This project Includes copyrighted music licensed to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers through Megatrax.
Donau Walk ICO052_09 ISRC IT9LL2505209 Longing For Landscapes: Electric Guitar Ambient Atmosphere Code ICO052 “Moritz Bintig PRO GEMA IPI 461227377 Share 50 Margomat PRO GEMA IPI 685334421 Intervox Italiana srl PRO SIAE IPI 615322480
Birds Will Be Singing,00:02:44,"Moritz Bintig, Margomat",Intervox Italiana srl (SIAE)
100% [615322480],Longing For Landscapes: Electric Guitar Ambient Atmosphere,ICO,ICO052,
ICO052-2,IT9LL2505202
| Date Taken: | 03.06.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 03.06.2026 16:33 |
| Category: | Video Productions |
| Video ID: | 998612 |
| VIRIN: | 260306-A-PO406-2711 |
| Filename: | DOD_111561725 |
| Length: | 00:02:58 |
| Location: | TULSA, OKLAHOMA, US |
| Downloads: | 0 |
| High-Res. Downloads: | 0 |
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