Hiwassee Lake Water Level
North Carolina · Hiwassee River
Full pool is the summer level. Hiwassee Lake is drawn down about 39.5 ft to roughly 1485 ft over winter for flood storage, so a lower reading outside the summer season is usually scheduled rather than drought.
Sponsor Hiwassee Lake
Put your marina, real-estate, or local business in front of everyone checking this lake's level. One exclusive sponsor per lake.
Cancel anytime · Questions?
Water level history
About Hiwassee Lake
Hiwassee Lake is a reservoir on the Hiwassee River in North Carolina, operated by Tennessee Valley Authority. Its dam housed the first reversible pump-turbine in the United States. Its full summer pool sits at 1524.5 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and update hourly.
Understanding Hiwassee Lake's water level
Hiwassee runs one of the deepest annual drawdowns in the TVA system. TVA's published flood guides are 1,521 feet for 1 June and 1,485 for 1 January, a 36-foot band, and TVA describes the level as varying about 43 feet from summer to winter in a normal year. Only Fontana moves further. So a reader looking at a January reading forty feet under the summer number is looking at the operating schedule working exactly as designed, not a drought. Filling begins in mid-March, and TVA limits the drawdown between 1 June and Labor Day to protect the recreation season.
The dam is a 307-foot concrete gravity structure begun in 1936 and completed in 1940, and its second generating unit, added in 1956, is genuinely historic. Unit 2 is a reversible pump-turbine: at peak demand it generates as water falls from Hiwassee Lake, and off-peak it reverses and pumps water back up out of the Apalachia tailwater below, storing energy as elevated water. Rated at 59,500 kilowatts as a generator and 102,000 horsepower as a pump, moving 3,900 cubic feet per second against a 205-foot head, it was designated an ASME Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark in 1981 as the first reversible pump-turbine installed in the United States purely for energy storage.
The shoreline is the other distinctive thing. TVA originally bought 19,046 acres and nearly all of the shore, then transferred about 91 percent of it, mostly to the Forest Service. Nearly all 165 miles of shoreline is publicly owned, 86 percent of it fronting Nantahala National Forest, and only about four percent is available for residential development, all of it already built in one subdivision. The practical consequence of the drawdown shows up at Hanging Dog Recreation Area, where the two boat ramps are seasonal opposites: the main ramp works June through October, and the deep-water Ramsey Bend ramp works November through June. The lake also has a strange wartime history, having been used by the Navy through the 1940s and 1950s to test torpedoes, mines and depth charges, chosen for depths over 250 feet and mountainous isolation.
Hiwassee Lake — frequently asked
How far does Hiwassee Lake drop in winter?
A long way. TVA describes the level as varying about 43 feet from summer to winter in a normal year, and publishes flood guide elevations of 1,521 feet for 1 June and 1,485 for 1 January. That is one of the deepest annual drawdowns in the TVA system, second only to Fontana. A reading forty feet below the summer level in January is the schedule, not drought.
When does Hiwassee Lake refill?
Aggressive filling of TVA's tributary reservoirs begins in mid-March, so the lake climbs through spring toward its June flood-guide level of 1,521 feet. TVA then limits drawdown between 1 June and Labor Day to protect the recreation season, and the lake is back down to winter flood-guide level by 1 January.
Which boat ramp works at Hiwassee Lake?
It depends on the season, because of the drawdown. At Hanging Dog Recreation Area the main ramp at the end of the access road is usable roughly June through October, while the deep-water Ramsey Bend ramp about a mile and a half away is usable November through June. They are seasonal opposites, which is a direct consequence of the lake moving forty feet a year.
What is special about Hiwassee Dam's Unit 2?
It is a reversible pump-turbine, installed in 1956, and it was the first in the United States put in purely to store energy. At peak demand it generates as water falls from the lake; off-peak it reverses and pumps water back up from the Apalachia tailwater below, banking surplus power as elevated water. It is rated at 59,500 kilowatts generating and 102,000 horsepower pumping, moving 3,900 cubic feet per second. It was named an ASME Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark in 1981.
Who owns the land around Hiwassee Lake?
Almost all of it is public. TVA originally acquired 19,046 acres and nearly the whole shoreline, then transferred about 91 percent of that, mostly to the US Forest Service. Around 86 percent of the lake's 165 miles of shoreline now fronts Nantahala National Forest, and only about four percent is available for residential development, all of it already built in a single subdivision.
What fish are in Hiwassee Lake?
Smallmouth bass, spotted bass and walleye all sample above the TVA valley average here, with largemouth below it. The fish community has consistently rated good. Two North Carolina state records came out of this lake: a 66-pound striped bass in March 2012 and a 10-pound 2-ounce smallmouth bass back in June 1951. Walleye fingerlings are stocked each May.
Other lakes near Hiwassee Lake
- Lake JamesNC
- Lake HickoryNC
- Jordan LakeNC
- Fontana LakeNC
- Kerr Lake (Buggs Island Lake)VA/NC
- Falls LakeNC
See current levels for all 10 North Carolina lakes and reservoirs →
Add this gauge to your website
Run a marina, boat rental, guide service, or real-estate site on Hiwassee Lake? Put this free live-level widget on your page — just copy and paste the code: