By Bridget Nash Staff Writer

Ground was broken Wednesday for an upstream flood control dam on Turkey Creek.

“This dam, Turkey Creek No. 3, will be one of many,” said Trey Lam, president of the Oklahoma As-sociation of Conservation Districts.

The event was groundbreaking in another way: It is the first upstream flood control dam in the nation to be built with funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the stimulus plan.

“This new dam signifies the first step in what promises to be a huge investment in the conservation infrastructure of Oklahoma and the nation,” said Lam.

The new dam, west of Enid, will reduce flooding on more than 500 acres of cropland, protect six county bridges and roads and re-establish 43.5 acres of wild-life habitat. The construction will cost $510,998 and will be fully funded with stimulus dollars.

“That’s really what the stimulus project is about,” said Lam. “Putting shovel-ready projects on the ground.”

Many thanks were extended to area land owners who allow such conservation projects to occur.

“Without the help of local land owners ... nothing in conservation could happen,” said Dale Milacek, Garfield County Conservation District chairman.

The dam is one of 11 dams to be built in the 244,000-acre Turkey Creek watershed area and when all dams in the project are finished flooding impact will be reduced for 6,000 residents in the eight small communities in the area. Those communities are Carrier, Drummond and Bison in Garfield County; Meno in Major County; Goltry and Helena in Alfalfa County; and Dover and Hen-nessey in Kingfisher County.

The Turkey Creek watershed affects Alfalfa, Garfield, Kingfisher and Major counties.

At the ground breaking ceremony, Lam and Milacek addressed the crowd along with Clay Pope, executive director of Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, Matt Gard, Oklahoma Conserva-tion Commision chairman and Ron Hilliard, Natural Resources Conserva-tion Service state conservationist.

Land owners and members from several media venues attended the event, as well as Oklahoma Senators David Meyers, R-Ponca City, and Patrick Anderson, R-Enid, and Oklahoma Representatives Mike Jack-son, R-Enid, and John Enns, R-Enid.

Partners for the construction of Turkey Creek Watershed Dam No. 3 include USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Turkey Creek Conservancy District, Garfield County Conserva-tion District, Garfield County Commissioners and Oklahoma Conservation Commission.

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Oklahoma has received nearly $2 million in stimulus funds to build new flood control dams, and another $14 million in stimulus funds has been earmarked for flood control rehabilitation and repair.

Construc-tion of the dam will be completed by C. Watts and Son, Inc.

“We are excited about this investment in Oklahoma conservation by the federal government,” said Gard. “It will provide new jobs for construction projects, new investment in the economy of rural Oklahoma and additional protection for our natural resources.”