Heavy rains cause need for emergency repairs to Oklahoma dams, but funding is uncertain

PURCELL — Standing at the foot of an earthen dam, Everett Wollenberg looks at a broken pipe that allowed a rush of water to carve out a giant bowl nearby.

This dam, just south of Wayne in McClain County, is one of 38 flood-control projects that were damaged by torrential rains last month.

The Oklahoma Conservation Commission, which maintains a network of 2,107 dams, will need to come up with some of the money for those repairs, even though its state funding has declined.