Estimated $33 Million Needed To Repair Tulsa River Levees

Lots of people want to see more water in the Arkansas River, but some say too much water could damage the river's levees, which are long overdue for repairs.

It's hard to imagine Tulsa's river rising enough to cause major flooding, but it's happened before.

It's harder to think of a flood so massive it could overwhelm the levees, but that's a real possibility, according to Tulsa County Commissioner Karen Keith.

"We have to wrap our arms around it, we need to get this fixed, we can't sit around and just say it's too much money, we can't do that,” Keith said.

The latest estimate on repairs to the levees is $33 million dollars. That would pay for new pumps and pipes for a system that was built in the 1940s - and remains largely as it was then.

2014 Levee Cost Estimate

The levees were built to protect 20 miles of riverside property in Sand Springs and Tulsa. That includes two refineries on the west bank, several rail lines and hundreds of homes.

Altogether it's more than $2 billion worth of property.

“The dollars needed to fix this are very small compared to what we would have to lose if a disaster happened and the levees breached. Can you imagine the refineries hit with a high water event? It would be devastating,” said Keith.

With major river developments beginning more valuable property is coming to the river, but the main risk is to what's already there, on lower land, primarily on the west side and upriver.

That's one reason Mayor Dewey Bartlett said buyouts - at least for homeowners - may be more practical than repairing all of the levees.

"I think the concept of looking at buyouts is very real. Why would we want to look at spending all that money and not look at the concept of relocating people," he said.

Tulsa County - which oversees the levees - plans to pursue funding from any available source for repairs, figuring the remote chance of a breach is enough reason to make the investment.

There's been local and federal money promised to pay for levee repairs.