Lake Nottely Water Level
Georgia · Nottely River
Full pool is the summer level. Lake Nottely is drawn down about 17 ft to roughly 1762 ft over winter for flood storage, so a lower reading outside the summer season is usually scheduled rather than drought.
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Water level history
About Lake Nottely
Lake Nottely is a reservoir on the Nottely River in Georgia, operated by Tennessee Valley Authority. It's the reservoir at Blairsville in the north Georgia mountains. Its full summer pool sits at 1779 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and update hourly.
Understanding Lake Nottely's water level
Lake Nottely is one of only three TVA reservoirs lying wholly or partly in Georgia, and the only one entirely inside a single Georgia county. It was a war project: construction began on 17 July 1941 and the gates closed on 24 January 1942, requiring the purchase of nearly eight thousand acres, the relocation of 91 families and the redesign of 21 miles of road. It was finished without any generating equipment at all, built purely to push water downstream to Hiwassee Dam, and did not get its own powerhouse and single generating unit until January 1956.
As a tributary storage reservoir it follows an annual fill and drawdown. TVA publishes flood guide elevations of 1,777 feet for 1 June and 1,762 for 1 January, and describes the level as varying about twenty feet from summer to winter in a year with normal rainfall. Filling begins in mid-March; the lake is at winter flood-guide level by 1 January. Nottely is one of ten tributary reservoirs where TVA deliberately limits the drawdown between 1 June and Labor Day to protect the recreation season. It is worth knowing that its swing is on the shallower side for a mountain storage reservoir: Hiwassee downstream moves about twice as far, and Fontana further still.
The shoreline is unusual for a TVA lake. Of its 102 miles, TVA owns only about 47 percent; the remainder was never bought, with TVA taking only flowage easements along private land. Around 41 percent of the shoreline is available for residential development and roughly 44 percent of that is built out. Nottely is a headwater reservoir with no impoundments above it, which keeps it naturally low in nutrients. Blairsville is the only town near it, at the upstream end. TVA aerates the tailwater by forcing air through the turbine, and injects oxygen into the reservoir above the dam when more is needed.
Lake Nottely — frequently asked
How much does Lake Nottely's level change through the year?
TVA says the level varies about twenty feet from summer to winter in a year with normal rainfall. Its published flood guide elevations are 1,777 feet for 1 June and 1,762 feet for 1 January. Filling begins in mid-March and the lake is down to winter flood-guide level by 1 January, so a low reading in December or January is the schedule rather than a drought.
Does Nottely have a deeper drawdown than other TVA lakes?
No, the opposite. Among TVA's mountain storage reservoirs Nottely's flood-guide band of about fifteen feet is one of the shallower ones. Hiwassee downstream runs about 36 feet between its June and January guides, and Fontana about 50. Nottely does move a great deal more than TVA's mainstem lakes, but within the storage group it is on the gentle end.
Why was Nottely Dam built without generators?
It was a wartime project completed in a hurry, finished in January 1942 purely to store water and push it downstream to Hiwassee Dam, which did the generating. Construction began in July 1941, required buying nearly eight thousand acres, relocating 91 families and redesigning 21 miles of road. Nottely did not get its own powerhouse and single generating unit until January 1956, fourteen years later.
Who owns the shoreline at Lake Nottely?
Mostly not TVA, which is unusual. Of the lake's 102 miles of shoreline TVA owns only about 47 percent; the rest was never purchased, with TVA taking flowage easements along private land instead. About 41 percent of the shoreline is available for residential development, and roughly 44 percent of that is already developed. That is a very different picture from Hiwassee downstream, where nearly all the shoreline is public forest.
Where is Lake Nottely?
Entirely within Union County in the north Georgia mountains, inside the Chattahoochee National Forest, with the dam about two and a third miles upstream of the Georgia and North Carolina state line. Blairsville is the only town near the lake and sits at its upstream end. It is a headwater reservoir with no impoundments above it, feeding the Hiwassee River system.
What fish are in Lake Nottely?
Georgia wildlife managers target spotted bass, largemouth bass, striped bass and crappie here. TVA sampling has rated the lake above the valley average for black bass and spotted bass and below average for largemouth. The fish community has consistently rated fair. Georgia advises eating no more than one meal a week of largemouth over twelve inches or striped bass over sixteen inches, because of mercury.
Other lakes near Lake Nottely
- Richard B. Russell LakeGA/SC
- Lake LanierGA
- Walter F. George Reservoir (Lake Eufaula)GA/AL
- J. Strom Thurmond Lake (Clarks Hill)GA/SC
- West Point LakeGA/AL
- Lake HartwellGA/SC
See current levels for all 11 Georgia lakes and reservoirs →
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