Well, folks, it’s Labor Day and Lake Texoma is at 617, its normal level. What a year it has been, but now we look forward to using and enjoying the lake “as it should be.”

I spent time researching the history of the Red River between Oklahoma and Texas, and the famous flooding that led to the construction of the Denison Dam. If you’re looking for info on the web, be sure to type in, “Red River of the South,” because there’s another famous Red River ‘way up north.

Up until and including the first part of the 20th century there were a lot more family farms and ranches along the Red River, and those land owners consistently lost property and income in annual flooding. And, there were towns built along the river, too, so homes and commercial buildings were subject to damage and loss as well.

So, the Denison Dam was completed in 1943, the result of a long political process, not to mention a huge undertaking in physical construction.

That was 72 years ago. The Denison Dam on the Red River was built first and foremost as a flood control device, followed by, “water supply, hydroelectric power production, river regulation, navigation and recreation.”

And in those 72 years since it was constructed and Lake Texoma was formed as a result, there have been a few notable floods, including and perhaps most notable of all, this year, 2015.

I am wondering if the time has come for the Texas and Oklahoma to consider exploring the possibilities that the state of Louisiana explored after the devastating floods during Hurricane Katrina. Politicians visited the Netherlands, where flood control systems are much more advanced than ours here in the US.

In other words, it may be possible to look ahead to protecting the existing landowners and Army Corps of Engineers’ lessees property from floods in the future.

Technology has progressed since 1943, and I’m wondering if our Lake Texoma area could benefit from it.