TULSA, Okla. — Many people enjoy hiking at Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center, but some hikers have noticed low water levels at the park's lake.
One hiker contacted 2 News Oklahoma because he was concerned about the water levels and how they could impact natural habitat.
“I’m an amateur photographer and hiker and I just enjoy coming out here and hiking," Wallace Love said. "It’s a great chance to shoot nature, and it’s a great chance to be in nature, and take a walk," Love said.
Wallace Love comes to Sherry Lake at the Oxley Nature Center once a week and brings his best friend along to capture the beauty of nature.
“It’s very peaceful,” Love said.
Recently he said he noticed something unusual.
“I came out to the lake and noticed that the lake levels were down," Love said.
He said a friend told him the Berm had been breached and it needed to be repaired.
“And when I came back several days later, the following week, I noticed it was down further and I walked over to the marsh, and it was completely dried up,” Love said.
He used his camera to capture the low water levels.
“I saw a deer grazing in the mudflat that used to be the marsh, where normally you’d see waterbirds and racoons,” Love said.
He was concerned for the natural habitat.
“I was afraid the habitat for the birds, the water birds, was going to disappear," Love said.
We checked with the City of Tulsa which owns Oxley Nature Center.
They told us the 70-acre man-made-lake was built nearly 100 years ago and that multiple floods over the years had damaged the old levy. The city said it has repaired it several times with the most recent, a temporary fix.
“You can see where the water had washed the vegetation over and so what they’ve done is they’ve brought in some riff raft and some soil, just to fill it in and hold the water back as best they can until the proper fix, which means more rock and clay and a better type of soil," Reese said.
While Reese said the temporary fix should get water levels back to normal, another major water event could take it out again. Reese said right now, there are no plans for long-term repairs.
“I don’t know, it’s whenever the money and the time becomes available," Reese said.
Meanwhile, Love is grateful a temporary solution will protect the natural habitat that gives his photography so much life.
“It’s meaningful to me personally because I’ve been coming out here for several years, and I treasure the time that I have out here and I hated to see it lost, that was a very important part of it," Love said.
Reese said the city would probably have to conduct an engineering study to find out what has to be done long-term and what materials are needed.
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