In 1976, the Oklahoma Department of Health, through the Water Quality Service established a fish monitoring program of the rivers and streams in the state. The purpose was to determine if the state was reaching the goals of the Federal Clean Water Act of 1972. The sampling data involves over 1,330 sites and 5,322 collections, 80 of these sites are long-termed sites which are collected 3 times a year. Results shows long-term sampling data is a useful tools to measure changes in the fish communities from environmental factors such as; drought, floods, reservoirs, pollution, and changing in land use patterns. Results from our rivers surveys has been a aid in evaluating the effect of the introduction of exotic sport species, the impact of the biomanipulation of the forage species by transplants of native species and the rate of extinctions of native species.