It may be time to forget everything you’ve heard about putting dams in the Arkansas River.
City Councilor G.T. Bynum has a new proposal.
"Stage one would be rebuilding Zink Dam in Tulsa at 29th and Riverside, building a dam at 49th and Riverside, which will create more of a continuous lake effect in midtown Tulsa, and then doing another one at 103rd and Riverside that we would be sharing with the City of Jenks," Bynum said.
That would leave out Sand Springs and Bixby.
"We'll revisit Sand Springs and Bixby and the space between about 51st and 71st in Tulsa once we've had more time to analyze how we tackle that particular issue," Bynum said.
Having just three low-water dams in the Arkansas River, all within Tulsa, would eliminate the need to come up with a multicity special tax district or similar complicated funding plan.
"We're not trying out a funding mechanism that no one's ever done in Oklahoma ever before, and all the legal issues that would inevitably come up as a result of being the first community to try that," Bynum said.
The river task force has been on hiatus while the new proposal was developed. It will resume meetings next week.
