OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — The ongoing heat dome has worsened the ongoing drought significantly the past few weeks. With the forecast staying hot and dry, we will need to watch lake levels closely in the OKC Metro.
Lake Hefner provides most of OKC’s drinking water and it is down 5 feet from normal. Lake Overholser also provides drinking water to the city, and it too is down 3 feet from normal. With deepening drought and hardly any rain in the forecast, these levels will only contue to fall.
Should the Lake Hefner levels get too low, the Army Corps of Engineers can release water from Canton Lake in Canton, OK. This was last done in November of 2024 when the drought was bad. This water release takes about 3 days to get to Lake Hefner when this occurs. There is no indication that there is a planned release as of now, but we will continue to monitor…