Fontana Lake Water Level
North Carolina · Little Tennessee River
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Water level history
About Fontana Lake
Fontana Lake is a reservoir on the Little Tennessee River in North Carolina, operated by Tennessee Valley Authority. Its dam is the tallest in the eastern U.S. Its full summer pool sits at 1710 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and update hourly.
Understanding Fontana Lake's water level
Fontana has the greatest annual pool variation of any TVA reservoir, and TVA says so in its own documents. The published flood guides are 1,703 feet for 1 June and 1,653 for 1 January, a fifty-foot band, and TVA's public figure for the typical observed swing is about fifty-six feet. Nothing else in the system comes close. The practical consequence is that the upper end of the reservoir and its tributary coves dewater every year, which limits several access areas to warm-season use, and it is why a January reading here looks alarming and is not.
The dam was a wartime rush. Construction began in 1942, three weeks after Pearl Harbor, and finished in November 1944. Around five thousand workers were on site by 1943, including 350 women, working seven-day weeks across three shifts with the night shift under floodlights; they set a national record by placing 11,419 cubic yards of concrete in a single day. At 480 feet it is TVA's highest dam and was the highest east of the Rocky Mountains when it was built. The power went to aluminium plants at Alcoa, Tennessee, forty-five miles away, and to the secret works at Oak Ridge. Alcoa had explored this site itself and had bought bottomland here; TVA took the project over in 1941 under an agreement that gave Alcoa allotments of power in exchange.
Filling the lake cut off the north shore, and the argument about that is still visible on the map. A 1943 agreement transferred about 44,000 acres to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in exchange for a promised road along the north shore replacing the drowned NC 288. About seven miles were built in the 1960s and the work stopped in 1972. The Park Service selected a cash settlement in 2007 and a $52 million agreement was announced in February 2010. What exists today is Lakeview Drive, an 11.4-mile out-and-back ending at a 1,200-foot unlit pedestrian tunnel. Since the late 1970s the Park Service has run fifteen to twenty boat trips a year across the lake so descendants can reach the cemeteries left on the north shore, at gatherings known as Decoration Days.
Fontana Lake — frequently asked
How far does Fontana Lake drop in winter?
Further than any other TVA reservoir. The published flood guides are 1,703 feet for 1 June and 1,653 for 1 January, a fifty-foot band, and TVA's stated typical swing is about fifty-six feet. TVA's own documents describe it as the greatest annual pool variation in the system. A January reading fifty feet below summer level is the schedule working exactly as designed.
Why are some Fontana boat ramps unusable in winter?
Because the drawdown dewaters them. State fisheries records note that annual water level fluctuations dry out the upper portion of the reservoir and its tributary coves, limiting several access areas to warm-season use. On a lake that moves fifty feet a year, a ramp built for summer pool is simply left on dry ground for part of the winter.
How tall is Fontana Dam?
480 feet. It is TVA's highest dam, and was the highest dam east of the Rocky Mountains when it was completed in 1944. It stretches 2,365 feet across the Little Tennessee River and carries three generating units with a net dependable capacity of 304 megawatts.
Why was Fontana Dam built so quickly?
The war. Construction began in 1942, three weeks after Pearl Harbor, and finished in November 1944. Around five thousand workers were on site by 1943, working seven-day weeks across three shifts with night work under floodlights, and set a national record by placing 11,419 cubic yards of concrete in twenty-four hours. The power went to aluminium plants at Alcoa, Tennessee and to Oak Ridge.
What is the Road to Nowhere at Fontana Lake?
An unfinished promise. A 1943 agreement transferred about 44,000 acres to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and in exchange the government was to build a road along the north shore replacing NC 288, which the reservoir drowned. About seven miles were built in the 1960s and work halted in 1972. The Park Service selected a monetary settlement in 2007 and a $52 million agreement was announced in February 2010. Lakeview Drive still ends at a 1,200-foot unlit pedestrian tunnel.
Does the Appalachian Trail cross Fontana Dam?
Yes. The trail runs across the top of the dam before entering Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The shelter nearby has hot showers and flush toilets, which is enough of a luxury on that stretch that hikers call it the Fontana Hilton. The national park borders the reservoir to the north and Nantahala National Forest to the south.
Other lakes near Fontana Lake
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