Many people are eager to get outside and enjoy water-based recreation as part of their Fourth of July celebration. Outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy scenic river and lake views while taking advantage of picnicking, hiking, camping, fishing, boating and swimming opportunities.

Some campsites temporarily closed at Slough Creek Park due to nesting bald eagles.

Obey all navigation rules established in your state. Pay attention to and follow all regulatory buoys and be aware of lake conditions.

Drowning is the nation’s second leading cause of accidental death. Many people overestimate their swimming ability and swim beyond their limits.

Living with dams is a shared responsibility and requires constant assessment, continuous communication and engagement with local public and emergency management agencies. The Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, operates and manages 18 dams in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. Flood control serves as the primary purpose of these dams. Corps reservoirs provide many other benefits including recreation activities.

As our recreation areas begin to reopen we want to remind you that we need your help during these trying times.

Follow CDC guidelines, even when outdoors. We are not staffed to maintain/clean lake & park areas. Be cautious about touching anything. Sanitize and wash often. Practice social distancing.

The dam consists of a rolled earth-fill embankment about 7,750 feet long, constructed to an elevation approximately 95 feet above the streambed with gated outlet works and a gated chute-type spillway in the left abutment. The outlet works is located in the center of the dam and includes several features. The outlet conduit, which is 23.5 feet in diameter and 564.25 feet long, extends through the earth embankment with approach and outlet channels. It is preceded by two rectangular passages of 11.75 feet wide and 23.5 feet high. Each passage contains an emergency gate and a service gate. Both gates are hydraulically operated. Discharges enter a concrete stilling basin immediately downstream of the outlet conduit. Two rows of staggered baffle blocks reduce the velocity of the water before it goes into the outlet channel. The intake structure and control tower contain all of the operating machinery and equipment. Additional pertinent data is listed below.

Built between 1964 and 1969, Perry Lake, in conjunction with other Corps of Engineers projects, provides flood control for the Kansas, Missouri, and Mississippi River Valleys. During the first nineteen years of operation, Perry Lake provided flood control benefits calculated at over eight times the construction cost of $47,900,000. In addition to flood control, Perry Lake is used to supplement water flow for navigational purposes and provides 150,000 acre-feet of water storage.

The Perry Lake Corps of Engineers manage an agricultural leasing program that is beneficial to local farmers as well as area wildlife.