TULSA, Okla — The River Parks Authority has closed down Zink Lake after low water levels.
Joe Medlin is the organization's Director of Outdoor Services.
“We could continue to run the wave park, but it would endanger those people on the lake," he said.
Medlin said that when kayaking, the water is so shallow that guests could hit a rock.
“Zink Lake is fed by Keystone Lake, so when Keystone Lake releases water, it refills our lake,” said Medlin.
“The last time Keystone released water was the 14th of this month, so it's been over a week since they released water.”
While the closure is for everyone's safety, Tulsans have noticed a difference.
“I’ve seen all the PR on the news about this awesome place," said Danny Green. "I come down here, and water is not flowing today.”
Katie Bradley comes almost every day to the Wave Park to walk her pup, Nala.
She said she has noticed a decrease in water levels and the number of people coming since the closure.
"It becomes very inconvenient and annoying when they're constantly closing it at an inconsistent schedule," she said. "Then, you never know when it's going to be open and you might show up and it's closed."
To help with keeping information flowing, Joe Medlin said he has been working on updating social media pages and the River Parks website.
He has also set up a new phone number: (918) 918-WAVE so that people can call in with their questions and concerns.
“I'm monitoring Keystone dam releases daily, and as soon as they update, we update on there," he said. "They're not going to release tomorrow, but we do fill the lake back up at a small level, even without a keystone release, so I believe we're going to run a few hours on Saturday.”
Medlin says other reasons the Wave Park may close include:
- Freezing, freezing temps
- Debris flowing in from the dam
- Maintenance and construction
- Low water levels
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