User:Bruin2/Lake McMurtry

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Lake McMurtry is a reservoir in northern Oklahoma. The dam is officially known as Stillwater Creek Watershed Dam No. 40M, and is located in Noble County, Oklahoma, about 8 miles northwest of the city of Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Owned by the city of Stillwater, its primary purposes are flood control, water supply and recreation. It is operated by a non-profit agency, Lake McMurtry Friends, Inc.

Stillwater Creek Watershed Project (SCWP)
In 1971, the City of Stillwater and the Noble County Conservation District, assisted by the Oklahoma Conservation Commission and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Program, constructed this dam. It is one of one of 33 dams in the Stillwater Creek Watershed Project (SCWP) in Payne and Noble Counties. The SCWP has provided the following benefits:

 * Provides flood protection for 252 farms and ranches * Provides flood protection for 20 major bridges and numerous county roads and bridges * Created or enhanced 524 acres of wetlands 
 * $2.3 million in average annual benefits from reduced flood damages
 * Reduced annual Sedimentation by 87,655 tons of soil.

Lake description
The lake surface covers approximately 1300 acres when the elevation is at "Normal Pool" 952 feet. The depth ranges from 55 feet near the dam, to less than 20 feet at the opposite (north) end.

Namesake
William Murl McMurtry (1903-1966), a native of Clarksville, Arkansas, joined the federal Soil Conservation Service (SCS) in 1935 and was assigned to Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1942. While employed there, he enrolled in the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College (A & M), since renamed as Oklahoma State University (OSU), where he earned a master's degree in Agronomy. He continued to work at Stillwater until he retired in 1965. Lake McMurtry was named for him in gratitude for his many years of service to that area.