Chickasha outlines long-term plan to draw water from Lake Chickasha; lessees told they may have years to relocate

City staff told the Chickasha City Council that Lake Chickasha is the only feasible additional water source identified in a planning study for a new water-treatment plant and that the city will need to raise the lake to meet future needs.

An update presented to the council said crews have cleared part of an emergency spillway, the dam will need repairs and the dam road must be fixed before gates can be returned to their original configuration. That sequence — clearing, dam repairs, road work and gate closure — would allow the lake level to rise toward its originally planned elevation, staff said. “First of all, the Oklahoma Water Resources Board asked us every December to do a report on the lake, the dam, emergency spillway,” a city staff member said during the presentation.

The city said it mailed letters in November to people holding long-term leases at the lake to notify them the lake level will be raised and that some leased structures could be flooded as the level returns to the original plan. “As that water level comes up, those people that have leases out there and have various buildings out there, they will be affected and be flooded,” staff said. The city emphasized it does not consider the change an emergency and that the timeline depends largely on rainfall. Officials told the council the city intends to continue notifying lessees and provide them time to relocate.

Council members pushed staff for specifics about timeline and water quality. Staff said raising the lake could take many years — estimates ranged from a decade to several decades in some comments — and that the new treatment plant will be designed to treat minerals and other surface-water constituents. When asked about gypsum or high-mineral content, staff said treatment strategies will be part of the design and that reverse-osmosis would be the most intensive option if required.

City officials also described immediate repair needs at the dam and spillway, including filling washout areas and resurfacing the dam road so heavy equipment can access work sites. Staff said a bid package to repair the dam would be brought to council in the coming months.

The city’s update stopped short of firm dates for when leases would expire or be nonrenewed. Council members asked why some annual leases were not renewed this year if the process could take years; staff said the November letter was provided to alert lessees to the long-term plan and that multiple years’ notice is expected before gates are closed. “They’re gonna have to be moved. And we will continue to give them notice so they they will be aware that they’ve got plenty of time to move,” the staff member said.

Next steps: staff said engineering and repair bids will be scheduled in the near term and that a more detailed update on the new treatment plant and selected land is expected in January, including a status report on design completion milestones.