Experts Warn Of Hidden Dangers From Freshly Filled Oklahoma Lakes

This weekend marks the unofficial start to summer. That means several Oklahoma lakes, freshly filled from recent rains, will be overrun with boaters.

Jimmy Labrun and his buddies found Lake Stanley Draper to be the perfect fishing spot before the rush of the holiday weekend traffic; a weekend he predicts will have more boaters out now that lake levels are nearing capacity around the state.

“I think it going to be super busy due to all the extra water that we [have] gotten. It's going to be a blast,” said Labrun.

Labrun has spent the last month fishing on his lunch break, watching the lake levels gradually rise.

“It's probably up at least a good 6, 7, 8 inches. It's hard to tell exactly but it's gone up significantly,” he said.

While rising levels help the metro's water supply, it's also brought other problems.

“Draper Lake is over its full compactly right now, so with that extra water and all the water it received there are some trees and things that can be submerged in areas,” said Debbie Ragan, with the Oklahoma City Utilities Department.

And that is something boaters need to aware of before launching into the water, especially around the shoreline. And flooding has also caused restricted access to some roads and picnic areas washed out from the rain.

At Lake Stanley Draper, Point 1 is currently closed including the picnic area, boat ramp, gangway and courtesy docks. Point 19 Road is washed out and will remain closed until it's repaired.

Lake Hefner's Hobie Point is closed due to construction. This means beach-launching boats are not able to sail from that area.

At this time the city reports no issues at Lake Overholser.