Looking back on GRDA’s 2022: Part 3

Sharing the safety story in the summer
GRDA Police Officer Jason Weilert gives an interview to a Tulsa television station to both share some water safety tips ahead of the July 4, 2022, weekend on Grand Lake. Throughout the year, promoting safe outings both on the lakes and the Illinios River was a top priority for the GRDA Police Department.

Power for Progress…

A weekly column from the Grand River Dam Authority

Looking back on GRDA’s 2022: Part 3

This week we continue to work our way through a review of the Grand River Dam Authority’s 2022 by focusing on the events that kept Team GRDA busy during much of the summer and the year’s third quarter.

July: Early in July, just ahead of the July 4 holiday weekend, the GRDA Police and Corporate Communications Departments held a media event on Grand Lake, to help stress the importance of water safety and life jacket use. While these are messages that are stressed all year round, the event was a chance for area television stations to come to the lake for interviews, and then help spread the important safety reminders to thousands of people who spent their holiday in or around the waters of Oklahoma.

Also in July, the GRDA Ecosystems and Watershed Management Department once again held its annual “Grand Adventure” day camp for area schoolchildren. Participants spent the day learning more about water, fisheries, and other important aspects of ecosystems management. It was another way for GRDA to support education, even during the summer break.

August: During the monthly board meeting, GRDA directors and other guests had their first chance to see inside the new GRDA Administrative Center, which was nearing completion. During that preview, GRDA also dedicated the building’s new board room in honor of outgoing GRDA Director Tom Kimball. Then, as the month began to wind down, a milestone was reached in the WOKA Whitewater Park construction effort. On August 24, crews successfully tested the bulkhead gates at the site for the first time. WOKA is set to open sometime in the summer of 2023. 

September: In September, several members of Team GRDA helped to facilitate and compete in the 2022 Municipal Electric Systems of Oklahoma (MESO) Public Power Line Workers Rodeo, held in Edmond. This annual event is an opportunity for public power employees from across the state to come together for not only competition but more importantly safety training and team building. And, speaking of coming together, GRDA also partnered with MESO and the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority (OMPA) to work a booth and help tell the public power story at the 2022 Oklahoma Municipal League Conference in Tulsa. As September was ending, GRDA crews, along with personnel from Skiatook Electric, headed to Lakeland, Florida, to help restore electric service there after the damage left by Hurricane Ian. It was part of a nationwide public power mutual aid effort.

As summer turned to fall, the year remained busy. Next week, we will close out our look back with a review of GRDA’s fourth quarter of 2022.

GRDA is Oklahoma’s largest public power electric utility; fully funded by revenues from electric and water sales instead of taxes. Each day, GRDA strives to be an “Oklahoma agency of excellence” by focusing on the 5 E’s: electricity, economic development, environmental stewardship, employees, and efficiency.