Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Oklahoma
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

The Cimarron River flows 1,117 km from its origin in northeastern New Mexico to its confluence with the Arkansas River at the Keystone Reservoir in Oklahoma. The majority of this distance flows through Oklahoma, but there are brief forays into Colorado and Kansas. The Cimarron has been described as a large, undammed river, but closer inspection reveals that this statement is not entirely valid. Between the years of 1893-1905, in what would become Harper County, Oklahoma, the Settler’s Milling Canal and Reservoir Company dug a 22.53 km long irrigation canal that irrigated nearly 6000 acres of land for farming. The canal is typically 3.66 meters wide at the base and nears 18.29 meters feet wide at its banks. To feed this irrigation canal, an earthen dam was constructed that diverts the entire surface flow of the Cimarron River to the Old Settler’s Irrigation Canal. We are investigating fish species diversity among sections of the river as they differ in water quantity and quality as a result of the diversion.