Photo gallery: Dams opened on Lake Texoma spillway

by David Alvey

A photo gallery of the gushing water.

Texoma rapids

(Click photo to see entire gallery)

Coming home from vacation today we detoured off I-75 just north of the Red River on Oklahoma Hwy 91 to the Denison Dam. With the water lapping over the Lake Texoma spillway, the gates of the dam have been opened to release water into the Red River. It was a circus atmosphere with people from all over North Texas and Oklahoma gawking at the water gushing forth. Meanwhile, storm clouds were building, threatening to dump more rain on Lake Texoma.

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Anonymous

weatherdrew, says:

The Denison Dam is NOT a controlled dam, and thus, there are no gates as the above article mentions. The dam utilizes a spillway which releases water into the river basin once the dam reaches a specific level. See the below article from the Army Corps of Engineers:

http://www.swt.usace.army.mil/Templat...

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2 years, 5 months ago
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Mike Orren, says:

Thanks for setting us straight, Drew!

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2 years, 5 months ago
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Erin Rice, says:

The important point here is this: I have a 9½ foot surfboard that is collecting dust. Can I surf off the Denison Dam? Because at this point I'm desperate to surf something, anything, dagnabit! And no, the internets don't count.

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2 years, 5 months ago
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dadavark, says:

Sorry for any miscommunication. I guess I'm confused as to why water was gushing forth from the south side of the dam. (The spillway is on the north side of Hwy 91.) It sure looks like gates on the southwestern side of the dam...maybe that's part of the hydro-power aspect of the dam.

As far as surfing, you're not allowed too close, but there were some pretty good swells even downstream.

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2 years, 5 months ago
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rtibbit, says:

To be more accurate, the SPILLWAY is not controlled with gates; however the Dension dam IS controlled with gates that allow water directly into the Red River. The Corp of Engineers control the flow rate from Lake Texoma into the Red River using those gates. Many of the photos in this article show water flowing out of the control gates - not over the spillway.