Update on East Lake Dam & Spillway

🛠️ An Update on the East Lake Dam & Spillway
It’s been a little over a year since the HOA Board began discussions with the City of Warr Acres regarding a proposed joint project to rehabilitate our East Lake dam, build a new spillway, and upgrade the city’s sewer line (part of which runs along the dam and beneath the spillway). Much of the past year has involved communicating with the city’s engineers and awaiting the city’s proposed agreement to work together.

In May, we reported that the City had presented us with engineering plans for the dam and spillway work, along with a proposed Memorandum of Agreement outlining the HOA’s portion of the costs and a framework for future maintenance decisions that would protect both parties’ interests.

The Board didn’t find the agreement terms fully acceptable, so—with the help of an attorney—we prepared a revised version and submitted it to the City Council for consideration. The Council reviewed the proposed revisions at their June 24 meeting but did not agree to all changes. They voted to postpone the final decision until the July meeting to allow further negotiations. The goal remains to produce a mutually agreeable contract that can be presented to the Council for approval.

At that same meeting, the City Council voted to award a contract for the dam and spillway work to Cimarron Construction, contingent on the City and the HOA signing a Memorandum of Agreement.

The City has since proposed additional revisions, and the HOA Board will be meeting within the next few days to review them. We’re hopeful that an agreement will be reached quickly so this much-needed work can begin. The scope includes repairs to the East Lake dam and a new concrete spillway engineered to handle the volume and velocity of water flowing over the dam. Aside from a few potential modifications, engineering for the spillway is complete, including hydrology and hydraulic studies to determine the proper size.

We’ll keep you informed of further developments.

In the meantime, feel free to post questions or concerns in the comments below or contact a Board member directly. If you're new to The Pines or unfamiliar with the history of the East Lake dam and spillway, read on for background.

📚 History of the East Lake Dam and Current Spillway
The HOA has been accumulating  funds over the past several years for work on the dam and spillway.  And because it would take several more years to accumulate sufficient funds for these projects, we also explored additional funding sources. Unfortunately, we found we didn’t qualify for loans (due to lack of collateral) or grants (as we’re not a municipality or a 501(c)(3) organization).

In searching for solutions, we invited OKC Ward 1 City Councilor Bradley Carter to see our eroding spillway and share any ideas for funding assistance . Even though the high-risk dam is located in Warr Acres, a failure could affect Oklahoma City residents downstream—so we believed he might take interest. He immediately called then-Mayor Roger Godwin of Warr Acres, and we discovered the City had been awarded a loan for sanitary sewer upgrades, including plans to enlarge the pipes that run along the dam’s face.

In  the interest of protecting  the City’s sewer line, the Mayor offered to explore a joint project that would help us accelerate spillway replacement and reach an agreement on cost reimbursement. Moreover, Warr Acres had unallocated ARPA grant funds that would need to be returned to the federal government if left unused—and they agreed to apply these funds toward engineering and design work for the new spillway. This was the breakthrough we’d hoped for.

🧱 How We Got Here
The existing spillway was constructed around 2009–2010. At that time, the HOA lacked the funds for proper engineering studies and designs, let alone a professionally engineered spillway. So, the HOA built a structure using gabion mattresses (wire cages filled with rocks) with earthen sides. It was a workable short-term solution, but it wasn’t built to handle the water flow.

By 2019, when several new Board members took office, erosion had already begun beside the gabion mattresses. The Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB), which oversees both of The Pines’ high-risk dams, was growing increasingly concerned. A new spillway was required to meet updated standards—and unfortunately, the HOA had no reserve funds at that time for dam and spillway repairs.

The Board began tackling the funding issue by increasing annual dues every year in accordance with the Consumer Price Index, as permitted by The Pines’ Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions. We also held a membership meeting to vote on doubling the annual dues for two years, beginning in 2023. That motion passed, and a subsequent vote two years later made the increase permanent.

Thanks to these efforts, the Board has been able to move funds into a reserve account regularly. We intend to continue building this reserve to cover project costs and future maintenance.

Concurrently, we reached out for help—contacting state representatives, the Neighborhood Alliance, and various organizations and agencies across Oklahoma. We encountered numerous dead ends until OKC Councilman Carter personally visited our spillway one evening.

We’ve learned that many HOAs in Oklahoma City are responsible for dams within their developments—some designated high-risk. Many of these associations lack adequate funding to repair aging infrastructure. Our HOA, consisting of around 116 households, is tasked with maintaining two high-risk dams. It’s a heavy lift.
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What sets us apart is the city’s sanitary sewer line running directly along one of our dams. While this arrangement presents risks to both parties, it also underscores the mutual importance of dam and spillway maintenance—creating an opportunity for collaboration and shared solutions.

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