Skiatook Dam and Lake was authorized for construction by the Flood Control Act approved October 23,1962 (87th Congress) It is one of five projects in the Bird Creek Basin plan recommended to meet the comprehensive water resource needs of the area. The Damsite is located on Hominy Creek about 5 miles west of Skiatook in Osage County, Oklahoma. The project serves the purpose of flood control, water quality, water supply, recreation, and fish and wildlife management. The total cost of the project was approximately $120 million. Construction started in January 1974, and impoundment occurred on October 31, 1984.

The dam is a rolled earthfill embankment 3,590 feet long, including the spillway, and rises 143 feet above the streambed. The embankment has a crown width of 32 feet. The uncontolled spillway consists of a concrete sill located in the right abutment. The spillway has a bottom width of 100 feet, a crest elevation of 732.0, and a design capacity of 21,700 cfs. The outlet works includes a gate tower with selective intakes; a 10.5-foot conduit tunneled through the right abutment serviced by two 4.67-by 10.5-foot low flow sluice; and a 36-inch water supply pipe.

The flood of record occurred in September and October 1959 with a peak discharge of 36,600 cfs at the Skiatook gage and a ppeak inflow into the lake of 43,300 cfs. The largest volume of record, 240,300 acre-feet, occurred in the May 1943 flood, and is equivalent to 12.73 inches of runoff from the drainage area above the dam site.