Our History

Purposeful Beginning

On February 22, 2022, Green Country Conservation Alliance, Inc. (GCCA), was granted its status as a 501-c-3 not-for-profit organization. The passionate volunteers behind GCCA’s creation hope to protect rivers and streams throughout Northeastern Oklahoma including the impact such waterways have on adjacent lands, aquatic life, personal safety, recreational activities, and other conservation concerns.

Spavinaw Creek Basin

Prior to the completion of Eucha Dam in 1952, Spavinaw Creek was crystal clear, and a healthy ecosystem existed. Spavinaw Creek no longer exhibits those same qualities. In 2001, owners of Eucha Dam, the City of Tulsa, and the Tulsa Metropolitan Utility Authority sued multiple poultry companies and the City of Decatur, Arkansas for damages to its water supply in the Eucha/Spavinaw watershed alleging that excess agricultural phosphorus runoff from pastures as well as runoff from the City of Decatur wastewater treatment plant caused prolific algae growth and subsequent taste and odor problems in finished drinking water from the lake Eucha-Spavinaw complex.

In March of 2003 a settlement was reached before going to trial and various protocols to reduce phosphorus loading to the watershed were implemented. While improvements to water quality have been made through phosphorus reduction, information is not readily available to ascertain the current levels of phosphorus in Spavinaw Creek below Eucha Dam. Water quality is therefore a concern.

While high water flows have occurred from time to time, for 65 years after the completion of Eucha Dam there were few incidences of severe flooding below the dam. In the spring of 2017 significant flooding did occur below the dam which threatened loss of life, damaged residential structures, compromised the bridge on County Road 530 over Spavinaw Creek, caused significant erosion of adjacent creek banks, flooded habitat for the endangered Gray Bat, and impacted aquatic life and recreational use of Spavinaw creek. Personal safety was also an issue as residents below the dam were not appropriately notified to evacuate prior to flooding that reached up to five feet of water in some of the residential structures.

Streambank erosion is a significant concern. According to data from 1995 through November of 2022, the level of creek bank erosion for the 17 years between 1995 and 2012 was at a tolerable level of .03 feet per year. The next four years between 2012 and 2016 annual erosion levels increased to 1.1 feet per year. However, from 2016 to 2019 erosions levels increased dramatically to 5.5 feet per year. The most recent flood in March 2023 resulted in an approximate erosion of an additional two to three feet in some areas along the creek bank.

A Future for All

Lake Eucha, Lake Spavinaw, Spavinaw Creek, and the Spavinaw Hills Game Management area are all Green Country treasures. From hunting and fishing, recreational activities, stream bank protection, animal protection, and healthy water quality are all worth conserving. Let's protect Oklahoma's Green Country!