Keystone Lake Right Now
Keystone Lake's water level has been falling over the past week. Watershed conditions are in moderate drought. Today's forecast calls for sunny.
- 7-day level change
- Down 0.28 feet
- Forecast high
- 89°F
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Overview
Keystone Lake is a roughly 23,600-acre reservoir on the Arkansas River about 15 miles west of Tulsa, spanning Pawnee, Osage, Creek, and Tulsa counties. It was created when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed Keystone Dam in the early 1960s (impoundment era mid-1960s) for flood control, hydropower, water supply, navigation support, fish and wildlife, and recreation. The Cimarron River also enters the upper lake.
The lake has about 297 miles of shoreline, averages near 24 feet deep, and reaches about 73 feet in deeper areas. Two major river arms, rocky points, and broad main-lake flats create diverse habitat, and towns such as Mannford and Prue were relocated when the reservoir filled.
Keystone is a major Tulsa-metro fishing and boating lake, known for paddlefish, striped and hybrid bass, black bass, crappie, and catfish. Fisheries are managed by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, with numerous Corps parks, marinas, and public ramps around the shoreline.
Water levels are managed by the Corps around a conservation pool of 723 feet above mean sea level (NGVD29), with flood-control storage to 754 feet. Arkansas and Cimarron floods can raise the pool rapidly, so monitoring current lake levels is important for boating safety, fishing, and dock access.
Keystone Lake is a 23,610-acre reservoir on the Arkansas River managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.