UPDATED: Tulsa-area dam construction, maintenance, expected to cost more than $300m

To see the complete report presented to the task force, go to http://riverprojectstulsa.info

Constructing and maintaining four low-water dams and assorted public amenities along the Arkansas River would cost $316 million, members of the Arkansas River Infrastructure Task Force were told Thursday.

The cost includes the construction of dams in Sand Springs, south Tulsa/Jenks and Bixby, the reconstruction of Zink Dam in Tulsa and accompanying parks and access trails.

The Sand Springs dam and amenities would cost $107.8 million; the south Tulsa/ Jenks dam and amenities $79.9 million; the Bixby dam and accessories $68 million; and the Zink Dam reconstruction and amenities $60.2 million.

About $100 million of the total cost is for amenities and public access.

“Before we had reliable guesses,” said task force chairman G.T. Bynum. “Today, we have thoroughly vetted, actual numbers — a lot of detail we never had before.”

The total cost includes $520,000 a year to maintain the dams; $880,000 annually for anticipated dam repairs; and about $1 million a year for the maintenance and operation of the parks

The $316 million figure is approximately $50 million more than the task force had last estimated.

The difference in cost is the result of the higher-than-expected cost to construct the Bixby dam; the addition of amenities to the project; and anticipated cost escalations.

The costs were based on construction beginning no sooner than 2017, with construction of each dam expected to take two years.

The dam costs without the amenities are $65.2 million for the Sand Springs dam; $47.2 million for the south Tulsa/ Jenks dam; $45. 7 million for the Bixby dam; and $38.4 million for the Zink dam overhaul.

Murry Fleming with the design firm CH2M HILL presented the figures to the task force. Fleming and about a dozen other people, including city engineers from the affected communities, were asked to provide verifiable, detailed cost estimates on the dams after earlier task force figures turned out to be incomplete.

The Arkansas River Infrastructure Task Force was created by the Tulsa City Council and the Mayor’s Office to identify the city’s objectives for development along the river and create a plan to achieve them.

Bynum made clear that Thursday’s presentation was not a proposal but simply information the task force would use to come up with a proposal.

The task force has yet to determine which dams will be constructed, the timeline for their construction and the details the funding package.

County Commissioner and task force member Karen Keith said after the meeting that she would like to see the proposal presented to the public include amenities such as parks.

“I think that is definitely what the public is going to want to see,” Keith said. “I think we need to have a holistic look at this for the whole region.”

Bynum said after the meeting that from what he’s heard from other task forces member, the focus has been limited “to what we need to do to put water in the river and to maintain water in the river.”

He has said previously that the amenities were added to the cost estimates to give communities the information they need should they choose to fund them on their own.

The task force has agreed to fund the dams using a portion of the expiring 0.60 percent Vision 2025 sales tax. Under the plan being considered, only the communities constructing or repairing dams would be asked to pay for them.

The task force will meet publicly three times in May to come up with the proposal before presenting it at public meetings in June.

The earliest possible vote could come in October, Bynum said, but added that the timeline is not set in stone.