Norris Lake

Last updated
Norris Lake
Norris Reservoir
Norris Lake from Norris Dam, Norris, TN - 52276480337.jpg
Norris Lake from Norris Dam, Norris, TN
USA Tennessee relief location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Norris Lake
Usa edcp relief location map.png
Red pog.svg
Norris Lake
Location Anderson, Campbell, Claiborne, Grainger, and Union counties in Tennessee, United States
Coordinates 36°17′34″N83°54′39″W / 36.292713°N 83.910925°W / 36.292713; -83.910925
Primary inflows Clinch River, Powell River
Primary outflows Clinch River
Max. length206 mi (332 km)
Max. width1.2 mi (1.9 km)
Surface area53.875 sq mi (137 km2)
Average depth75 ft (23 m)
Max. depth210 ft (64 m)
Shore length1809 mi (1,302 km)
Surface elevation1,020 ft (310 m)
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Norris Lake, also known as Norris Reservoir, is a reservoir that is located in Tennessee. The lake was created by the Norris Dam at the Cove Creek Site on the Clinch River in 1936 by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for flood control, water storage, and hydroelectric power. Norris Dam and its reservoir were the first major project taken on by the TVA. The lake, the dam, and the town of Norris, Tennessee are named for George W. Norris, who was a U.S. Senator from Nebraska and who wrote the legislation that created the TVA. [1]

Contents

History

Norris Lake was created by the Norris Dam, which was the first project taken on by the TVA as part of the New Deal. Construction began in 1933, and the project was finished in March 1936. The dam cost about $36 million to build. The dam is 265 feet (80.7 m) high, and extends 1,860 feet (567 m) across the Clinch River. Construction of the dam also created the nearby town of Norris which was created to house the workers and their families. [2] Norris Dam was primarily built for flood control in the area and it still serves that purpose today. The dam also provides electricity with two generating units, each unit having a generating capacity of 65.7 megawatts (a combined generating capacity of 131.4 megawatts). The power plant generated about 302 gigawatt-hours in 2007. [3] The dam and its reservoir have a flood storage capacity of about 1,113,000 acre-feet (1,373,000,000 m^3 or 1.37 km^3). [4]

Norris Lake extends about 73 miles (117 km) up the Clinch River and 56 miles (90 km) up the Powell River from Norris Dam. It has a flood storage capacity of about 1,113,000 acre-feet (1.37 km^3), and it has about 800 miles of shoreline and 52.9 square miles (33,840 acres) of water surface. The lake has a maximum width of about 1.2 miles and a maximum depth of 210 feet, and these make it the largest lake on a tributary of the Tennessee River.

As of 2011, Norris Lake has an ecological health rating of fair. [5] [6] [7] The TVA has put into effect a clean water initiative to improve the cleanliness of the lake.

Hydrology

Norris Lake has an average temperature of about 55 degrees Fahrenheit (12.7 C) in the spring, 72 degrees (22.2 C) in the summer, 56.5 degrees (13.6 C) in the fall, and 36 degrees (2.2 C) in the winter. [8] Its region receives an average rainfall of about 4.6 inches (117 mm) per month. The lake level is at about 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level, depending on the fluctuation of the depth of the lake, with an average input level of about 1,500 to 2,500 feet (457 to 762 m) above sea level, and an average output level of about 1,000 to 1,500 feet (300 to 457 m) above sea level. There is also an average water fluctuation of about 46 feet (14 m) , day by day. [5]

Geology

Norris Lake lies in the Great Appalachian Valley of East Tennessee and its shore land covers about 375 square miles around the 52.9 square miles that the reservoir covers. The main rock formations in the land are limestone and sandstone, and because of the shifting of the land of the area, they are visible in many of the rock formations that are cut out in the hills. [9]

Natural history

Fish

Most nutrients for the fish that inhabit the lake come from the Clinch and Powell Rivers because the lake has difficulty creating its own. This is the major reason that the fish population in Norris lake is not as abundant as in other lakes in the area such as Boone Lake. The lake also has advisories against the consumption of the fish because of the mercury levels in the lake. Norris lake's main fish species are the black bass, the striped bass, crappie, walleye, and sunfish. [10]

Vegetation

Norris Lake has little underwater vegetation. Stumps remain underwater from the construction of the reservoir. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) has a program established to sink old Christmas trees to provide underwater structure for fish attraction. [11] The vegetation type around Norris lake is known as Appalachian oak forest. The main type of forest vegetation is oak pine which includes black jack oak, chestnut oak, post oak, scarlet oak, and southern red oak inhabiting the areas that are drier. The areas around the lake that have more moist ground include trees such as white oak, southern red oak, and black oak with short leaf pine composing much of the canopy around the lake. [12]

Economy

The counties that surround the reservoir had a combined population of about 189,150 people in 2013. [13] The main source of industry of the area surrounding the lake is agriculture, with the main cash crops being tobacco, corn, and hay. Other sources of income for the area are in the industries of garment, coal, timber, and nuclear power.[11]

Norris Lake offers many recreational opportunities. It has several conservation lands such as Norris Dam State Park, The Cove Creek Wildlife Management Area, and Chuck Swan State Forest that offer hiking and other activities and protect undeveloped areas. The lake is also used for activities like waterskiing, fishing, [14] swimming, and boating.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norris Dam</span> Dam in Tennessee, United States

Norris Dam is a hydroelectric and flood control structure located on the Clinch River in Anderson County and Campbell County, Tennessee, United States. The dam was the first major project for the Tennessee Valley Authority, which had been created in 1933 to bring economic development to the region and control the rampant flooding that had long plagued the Tennessee Valley. The dam was named in honor of Nebraska Senator George Norris (1861–1944), a longtime supporter of government-owned utilities in general, and supporter of TVA in particular. The infrastructure project was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watts Bar Dam</span> Dam in Tennessee, United States

Watts Bar Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River in Meigs and Rhea counties in Tennessee, United States. The dam is one of nine dams on the main Tennessee River channel operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1940s to provide flood control and electricity and to help create a continuous navigable channel along the entire length of the river. The dam is the technical boundary between the 39,090-acre (15,820 ha) Watts Bar Lake— which it impounds— and Chickamauga Lake, which stretches from the dam's tailwaters southward to Chattanooga.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Loudoun Dam</span> Dam in Tennessee, United States

Fort Loudoun Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River in Loudon County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The dam is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which built the dam in the early 1940s as part of a unified plan to provide electricity and flood control in the Tennessee Valley and create a continuous 652-mile (1,049 km) navigable river channel from Knoxville, Tennessee to Paducah, Kentucky. It is the uppermost of nine TVA dams on the Tennessee River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melton Hill Dam</span> Dam in Tennessee and Lenoir City, Tennessee

Melton Hill Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Clinch River just south of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States. The dam is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1960s to extend the Tennessee Valley's continuous navigation channel up the Clinch as far as Clinton and to increase TVA's overall power-generating capacity. The dam impounds the 5,470-acre (2,210 ha) Melton Hill Lake, and is the only TVA tributary dam serviced by a navigation lock. The dam and associated infrastructure were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wheeler Dam</span> Dam in Alabama, United States

Wheeler Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River between Lauderdale County and Lawrence County in Alabama. It is one of nine dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the mid-1930s as part of a New Deal-era initiative to improve navigation on the river and bring flood control and economic development to the region. The dam impounds the Wheeler Lake of 67,070 acres (27,140 ha) and its tailwaters feed into Wilson Lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilson Dam</span> Dam on the Tennessee River, Alabama

Wilson Dam is a dam on the Tennessee River between Lauderdale and Colbert counties in Alabama. Completed in 1924 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, it impounds Wilson Lake, and is one of nine Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) dams on the Tennessee River. It was declared a National Historic Landmark on November 13, 1966, for its role as the first dam to come under the TVA's administration. The dam is named for Woodrow Wilson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chickamauga Dam</span> Dam in Tennessee, United States

The Chickamauga Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. The dam is owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the late 1930s as part of a New Deal era initiative to improve navigation and bring flood control and economic development to the Tennessee Valley. The dam impounds the 36,240-acre (14,670 ha) Chickamauga Lake and feeds into Nickajack Lake. The dam and associated infrastructure were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentucky Dam</span> Dam in Kentucky, United States

Kentucky Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River on the county line between Livingston and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The dam is the lowermost of nine dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the late 1930s and early 1940s to improve navigation on the lower part of the river and reduce flooding on the lower Ohio and Mississippi rivers. It was a major project initiated during the New Deal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration, to invest in infrastructure to benefit the country. The dam impounds the Kentucky Lake of 160,000 acres (65,000 ha), which is the largest of TVA's reservoirs and the largest artificial lake by area in the Eastern United States. It was designated as an National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1996 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watauga Lake</span> Reservoir in Tennessee, United States

Watauga Lake, located east of Elizabethton, Tennessee, is the local name of the Watauga Reservoir created by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) with the 1948 completion of the TVA Watauga Dam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas Dam</span> Dam in Tennessee, United States

Douglas Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the French Broad River in Sevier County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The dam is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which built the dam in record time in the early 1940s to meet emergency energy demands at the height of World War II. Douglas Dam is a straight reinforced concrete gravity-type dam 1705 feet long and 202 feet high, impounding the 28,420-acre (11,500 ha) Douglas Lake. The dam was named for Douglas Bluff, a cliff overlooking the dam site prior to construction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norris Dam State Park</span> United States historic place

Norris Dam State Park is a state park in Anderson County and Campbell County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The park is situated along the shores of Norris Lake, an impoundment of the Clinch River created by the completion of Norris Dam in 1936. The park consists of 4,038 acres (16.34 km2) managed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. The park also administers the Lenoir Museum Complex, which interprets the area's aboriginal, pioneer, and early 20th-century history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Ridge State Park</span> State park in Tennessee, United States

Big Ridge State Park is a state park in Union County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The park consists of 3,687 acres (14.92 km2) on the southern shore of the Norris Reservoir, an impoundment of the Clinch River created by the completion of Norris Dam in 1936. Much of the park's recreational focus is on Big Ridge Lake, a 45-acre (0.18 km2) sub-impoundment of Norris near the center of the park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chilhowee Dam</span> Hydroelectric dam in Tennessee

Chilhowee Dam is a hydroelectric dam located in Blount and Monroe counties, Tennessee, United States, between river mile 33 and 34 on the Little Tennessee River. Construction by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) began in 1955 and was completed in 1957. The dam's reservoir covers approximately 1,734 acres (702 ha) at normal full pool and has a drainage area of 1,977 square miles (5,120 km2). The elevation of Chilhowee Reservoir is 874 feet (266 m) above mean sea level (USGS). Chilhowee's powerhouse is equipped with three Kaplan turbines that have a combined generating capacity of 48 megawatts.

Boone Lake is a reservoir in Sullivan and Washington counties in northeastern Tennessee, formed by the impoundment of the South Fork Holston River and Watauga River behind Boone Dam. Boone Reservoir’s 4,400 acres extend along the South Fork Holston River forming two river extensions. According to TVA, “at maximum pool level, one arm of the lake extends about 16 miles up the South Fork Holston River, and the other extends approximately 15 miles up the Watauga River".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tims Ford Lake</span> Reservoir in Tennessee, United States

Tims Ford Lake is a reservoir run by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in southern middle Tennessee. The lake encompasses 10,700 acres and approximately 250 miles of shoreline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherokee Lake</span> Artificial reservoir in East Tennessee, United States

Cherokee Lake, also known as Cherokee Reservoir, is an artificial reservoir in the U.S. state of Tennessee formed by the impoundment of the Holston River behind Cherokee Dam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherokee Dam</span> Dam in Tennessee, United States

Cherokee Dam is a hydroelectric dam located on the Holston River in Grainger County and Jefferson County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The dam is operated and maintained by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1940s to help meet urgent demands for energy at the outbreak of World War II. Cherokee Dam is 175 feet (53 m) high and impounds the 28,780-acre (11,650 ha) Cherokee Lake. It has a generating capacity of 136 megawatts. The dam was named for the Cherokee, a Native American tribe that controlled much of East Tennessee when the first European settlers arrived in the mid-18th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Ridge Dam</span> Dam in Georgia, United States

Blue Ridge Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Toccoa River in Fannin County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the uppermost of four dams on the Toccoa/Ocoee River owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The dam impounds the 3,300-acre (1,300 ha) Blue Ridge Lake on the southwestern fringe of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Holston Dam</span> Dam in Tennessee, United States

South Holston Dam is a hydroelectric and flood control dam on the South Fork Holston River in Sullivan County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the uppermost of three dams on the South Fork Holston owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the 1940s as part of efforts to control flooding in the Tennessee River watershed. On October 21, 1950 the valve gate closed and water began backing up to create South Holston Reservoir. Work began on the dam in December 1941, but in November 1942, the War Production Board requested that the operation be suspended because of a shortage of critical materials. Work did not resume until July 1, 1947. The dam now impounds the South Holston Lake of 7,550 acres (3,060 ha), which extends northeastward across the Tennessee-Virginia state line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boone Dam</span> Dam in Tennessee, United States

Boone Dam is a hydroelectric and flood control dam on the South Fork Holston River on the border between Sullivan County and Washington County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is one of three dams on the South Fork Holston owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1950s as part of greater efforts to control flooding in the Tennessee River watershed. The dam impounds the 4,500-acre (1,800 ha) Boone Lake, and its tailwaters are part of Fort Patrick Henry Lake. The dam and associated infrastructure were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.

References

  1. "More About Senator George Norris State Historic Site". nebraskahistory.org. Archived from the original on September 8, 1999.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. "Norris Dam". tnfenweb.org. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  3. "Norris Dam Hydro Power Plant". globalenergyobservatory.org. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  4. "Norris Reservoir". tva.gov.
  5. 1 2 "Norris Reservoir". tva.gov. Tennessee Valley Authority. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  6. "Norris Reservoir Land Management Plan". September 2001.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. Hassler, William W. (1957). "Age And Growth Of The Sauger, Stizostedion Canadense Canadense (Smith), In Norris Reservoir, Tennessee" (PDF). Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science. 32 (1). Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  8. "Norris Lake Info". norrislakeinfo.com.
  9. Rudolph, Foster. "Soil Survey of the Norris Area Tennessee". United States Department of Agriculture: 187.[ full citation needed ]
  10. "Norris Reservoir-General Information". tnfish.org. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  11. "Norris Lake". lake-maps.com. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  12. Tene (September 2005). "Norris Watershed Land Transfer: Anderson County" (PDF).{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. "State and County Quck Facts". census.gov. United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  14. Kirk, Don (2013-02-15). Flyfisher's Guide to Tennessee. Wilderness Adventures Press. pp. 131–. ISBN   9781932098969 . Retrieved 17 August 2014.