City Of Tulsa Hosts Public Meeting To Reveal Plans For Zink Lake

A lot of people attended a meeting Tuesday night to talk about Zink Lake along the Arkansas River in Tulsa.

The city gave a presentation on all the fun activities people will be able to enjoy and how they plan to make sure the water quality stays good. 

The City of Tulsa says right now, they are testing water in the Arkansas River for two bacteria, E. coli and Enterococci, and people at the meeting said they want even more testing,

The City of Tulsa says it will have a system that would let people check the water in Zink Lake before they use it. It could be an app or a QR code people could scan.

"I liked what they are doing with the GIS database online for that information so you can get water quality information flow information in real-time," said Yvette Wiley, a Tulsa resident.

The city is mainly testing the water for two bacteria, but Wiley says she would like to see more research done in Zink Lake.

"Say if you're a catfish or a channel catfish. They're bottom feeders; they eat that, so it’s going to biomagnify and go up the food chain," said Wiley. 

Wiley is in favor of this project and came to the meeting on Tuesday to find out how the water will be tested and maintained.

"We will continue to ask people to care about this, be engaged in this, help us make this the best possible experience that we can for the citizens of Tulsa," said Blake Ewing, City of Tulsa's Chief of Staff.

Tulsa Business owner Pam Rosser owns apartments on 19th and Riverside and says this project affects her business in a positive way. 

"You want people to come here and work, you want young people, you need recreation," she said.

She appreciated Tuesday night’s information and is proud of the work that’s being done.

"What River Parks Authority has done and what the city of Tulsa has done and what this new development is going to do is fabulous," said Rosser.

The City of Tulsa wants people to be confident in the quality of water, and they believe their new system to keep people up to date on the water is the first of its kind in the nation.

Zink Lake, a 2.5-mile recreational attraction located next to Gathering Place, will open on Labor Day Weekend 2024 alongside Tulsa’s new pedestrian bridge, Williams Crossing.

People will be able to enjoy kayaks, canoes, paddle boards, pedal boats, and more. There will be a 1,000-foot whitewater flume located in Zink Lake on the east bank, where wave shapers and flume pools will be available for kayakers. 

Recreational activities can be expected to be in use when Zink Lake opens on Labor Day 2024.

Additional parking and bathrooms will be available on the east and west banks.