City Of Tulsa Addresses Zink Lake Water Quality Concerns

The reopening of Zink Lake Labor Day weekend has Glen Heacock excited.

“ [I] decided to come out here early just to beat the crowds, and I wanted to go upstream later on, and bring the kayak down and enjoy the party so, immerse myself in the festivities,” he said. 

On the other hand, it's prompted unease for some people because of concerns about water quality. The city wants people to know measures have been put in place.

“We test twice a week. Every Tuesday and Thursday … we test for a multitude of things: E.coli, turbidity, pH … once a month, we test for total petroleum hydrocarbons, and cadmium,” said Brooke Caviness, Zink Lake’s project manager. 

She says they started testing it in January. But even with testing, comes the risk of bacteria and chemical runoff.

“That's part of having a natural water body like this,” Caviness said. 

So far, Caviness says most of the tests have come back well within the state's water quality standards. However, the City of Tulsa says there are some peaks in e.Coli readings which trend after rain events.

The city uses a water quality dashboard to keep the community updated on water trends, temperature, pH levels, and E. coli levels.

 “You can see the depth of the water, the flow rate, and the temperature,” said Caviness. 

Caviness says it's important to be honest and transparent with the public.

 “We’re a partner, we want to work with the citizens, we want them to know what the risks would be,” she said. 

 “It's always good for people that are ultra concerned about it,” said Heacock.

Heacock says he’s not worried about the water.

“I’m not gonna be drinking it 1, 2, I’m not spending hours and hours and hours in the water,” he said. 

And he’s not going to let it hinder him from having fun on the lake

“I’m happy that we have something like this here,” Heacock said.