https://www.google.com/maps/@36.6657975 ... a=!3m1!1e3
The dam was completed in 1978, but has never filled more than 5% of compacity. Increased pumping from the local aquafer diminished the river, that the dam was supposed to impound, to a trickle. According to the wikipedia entry, the control structures are still operational.
Link to Abandoned OK website
Optima Dam: The Lake that Never Was
Optima Dam: The Lake that Never Was
More online investigation than onsite exploration these days.
“My dear fellow, who will let you?”
“That’s not the point. The point is, who will stop me?”
-Ayn Rand
“My dear fellow, who will let you?”
“That’s not the point. The point is, who will stop me?”
-Ayn Rand