Well, here we are in the hottest part of the summer so far in north Texas and southern Oklahoma. Day after day of 100+ temps.

And Lake Texoma is within 10 -11 feet of its normal level of 617 feet above sea level. That is cause for celebration. It’s easy to understand how these sunny blue skies are evaporating lake water into the atmosphere every day.

But it’s hard to celebrate when the flood clean-up is so miserably hot. It’s drudgery working on damaged boats, docks and buildings with no air conditioning.

In case you don’t routinely check the Army Corps of Engineers Tulsa District website, take note that just because the lake level is slowly returning to normal your favorite campground may not be open yet. And, at the risk of providing too much information, neither are many public toilets.

I’m going to share the message and list of closed parks and facilities posted by the Corps:

“Due to ongoing flooding, Lake Texoma will cancel all reservations through the National Recreation Reservation System for the remainder of the season ending September 30, 2015. Those parks affected are East Burns Run, West Burns Run, Platter Flats, Lakeside, Johnson Creek, Caney Creek, Buncombe Creek, Juniper East, Juniper West, and Preston Bend. Sites will be rented on a first-come, first-served basis as they become available.

The following parks are COMPLETELY CLOSED:
East Burns Run
East Burns Run Day Use Area
West Burns Run
West Burns Run Day Use Area
Lakeside
Juniper East
Preston Bend
Spillway Boat Ramp and Toilet”

For those of you who like to plan ahead, here are the Lake Texoma Corps areas posted as OPEN, as of 8/2/2015:
Buncombe Creek, 30% open, first come first served. No boat ramp is open at this time.
Platter Flats, 40% open, first come first served. No boat ramp is open at this time.
Caney Creek, 60% open, first come first served. No boat ramp is open at this time.
Texas Damsite, 100% open, first come first served. No boat ramp is open at this time.