Tom Steed Reservoir, body of water

Tom Steed Reservoir is a large body of water in Oklahoma's plains that stores water and manages the region's water supply. The basin collects runoff from a vast drainage area and is regulated by a dam system with gates that control water flow according to seasonal needs.

Tom Steed Reservoir was created in 1975 when West Otter Creek was dammed at Mountain Park Dam and Elk Creek flows were diverted through the Bretch Diversion Canal. The project is the main feature of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's Mountain Park Project, which supplies municipal and industrial water to Snyder, Altus and Frederick and to the Hackberry Flat Wildlife Management Area.

The reservoir is named after Tom Steed, the Oklahoma congressman who represented the district and secured federal funding for the Mountain Park Project. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation manages 5,150 acres on the west and north shores, where waterfowl and dove are plentiful and tree and shrub plantings continue to expand game habitat.

The Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department manages 6,100 acres on the east and south shores, with shelters, tables, grills, a comfort station, a boat launching ramp and a swimming beach. South of the dam along Otter Creek, picnic facilities and a bridge lead to a nature trail through cottonwood, ash, elm, walnut and pecan trees. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation administers 5,150 acres on the west and north sides.

Mountain Park Dam is a thin double-curvature concrete arch 535 feet long and 133 feet high, flanked by concrete thrust blocks. Together with the rolled-earth East and West Dikes, stretching 10,311 and 13,235 feet, it holds back the reservoir. The dam stands just upstream of Snyder Dam on Otter Creek near Mountain Park.