News

GRDA’s Rush for Brush coming in Fall 2025

Feb 26, 2025

Volunteers construct fish habitat during a 2022 Rush for Brush workshop, held at Wolf Creek Park in Grove.

The Grand River Dam Authority is announcing that its award-winning Rush for Brush workshops, typically held in spring, will take place in the fall this year. Facilitated by the GRDA Ecosystems and Watershed Management Department, the workshop is moving to the fall in order to ensure that enough materials are available for all participants.

The department is asking those interested in participating to stay tuned for a workshop date and registration information. GRDA will provide that information as soon as it is finalized.

Since its debut in the spring of 2007, the Rush for Brush program has served to enhance the fisheries of GRDA waters. At workshops, GRDA supplies the material, and volunteers supply the manpower to build the artificial habitats which are then placed in GRDA waters.

Since the program began in 2007, roughly 19,000 structures have been placed in GRDA lake waters, covering roughly 11 acres of lakebed. Simulating natural brush piles, these habitats provide protection to fry and fingerlings while staying in place and lasting longer than natural brush piles. This fisheries enhancement helps GRDA to meet its mission as a good steward for the natural resources under its control.

The program has won multiple awards, including the “State Government Program” Award from Keep Oklahoma Beautiful and the “Outstanding Stewards of America’s Waters” from the National Hydropower Association.

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: employees, electricity, economic development, environmental stewardship, and efficiency.