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"Water in the River" Requires up to $3M in Work Around Zink Lake

Project Management Group

Tulsa's storm sewer system and Arkansas River banks will need some work to handle the additional three feet of water dams would hold in the river. 

Consultant Gaylon Pinc told the city's river task force it's looking at around $1 million to fix the three worst outfalls — points where the storm sewer discharges into the river — in the Zink Lake area. 

"And I think that's on the high side, very conservative side of that," Pinc said. "We only have seen about three outfalls that have some major issues, and two of those are small-sized pipes that would be fairly cheap fixes."

It could cost up to $2 million to stabilize the banks in the same area. About 6,100 feet of riverbank need work before they can handle the water level and flow changes that water in the river will bring, but the money may already be there. 

"Vision 2025 already has $1.8 million in it reserved for bank work, so we are covering most of that — if not all of it," Pinc said. 

The work will consist of laying rock to protect the banks at the water line and planting vegetation above that. Root systems naturally guard against erosion, and the plants create wildlife habitat. 

These projects don't include parts of the river in Sand Springs or Jenks. 

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.