Low Water Levels At Lake Hefner Not Impacting Oklahoma City Utilities

Jon Jordan, News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma City is currently experiencing one of the worst droughts in sometime, and now the lack of rain is beginning to have an impact on the city's lakes.

The marks on the rocks depict a lake in badly need of water.

Patsy Quiring has been coming out to Lake Hefner at least two times a week for the past three years.

"This is the lowest I've seen it," Quiring said.

The water level is low, even after the city brought in water from other lakes to prepare for the drought.

"We need some rain really bad, really bad," Quiring said.

But if the information the city is getting is correct, the area should be getting some rain soon.

"We watch the National Weather Service and Prediction Center carefully. It's predicting we are going to have a warmer April and be back to the normal rainfall amounts through April and June," said Debbie Ragan, Oklahoma City Utilities Department spokesperson.

In the meantime the low water levels at the lakes in city, which are about 6 to 7 feet below normal, are having no impact on water supplies and city officials said they don't see any impacts in the near future.

"Right now your hope is, is that things will turn around shortly. That's what we're looking to our weather services to guide us and do the right thing," Ragan said.

While the city said the water is not affecting drinking supplies yet, they are encouraging those with boats out at Lake Hefner to get them off the water should the water level continue to drop.

Parts of 12 counties are under "extreme" drought conditions, including most of Cleveland County and part of Oklahoma County.