Tellico Lake Water Level
Tennessee · Little Tennessee River
Tellico is joined to Fort Loudoun Lake by a canal and the two are operated together, so it holds a narrow band: a minimum winter elevation near 807 ft and a typical summer range of 812 to 813 ft.
Sponsor Tellico 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 Tellico Lake
Tellico Lake is a reservoir on the Little Tennessee River in Tennessee, operated by Tennessee Valley Authority. A canal connects it to Fort Loudoun Lake next door. Its full summer pool sits at 813 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and update hourly.
Understanding Tellico Lake's water level
Tellico is the TVA reservoir with no dam of its own doing any generating. Tellico Dam holds no turbines at all. Instead an 850-foot canal, 500 feet wide, links it to Fort Loudoun Lake on the Tennessee River next door, and the water is diverted through that canal to Fort Loudoun's four units. The two reservoirs are operated jointly for flood damage reduction, power and navigation, and because the canal is open between them, Tellico's level tracks Fort Loudoun's published band: a minimum winter elevation of 807 feet and a typical summer operating range of 812 to 813. That is roughly six feet of annual movement, which makes Tellico one of the steadier lakes on this site, and about a quarter of what South Holston does.
It is also the most legally consequential reservoir in the country. Construction began in 1967, and in 1973 a University of Tennessee biologist found a small fish, the snail darter, in the Little Tennessee. It was listed as endangered in October 1975, the Sixth Circuit halted construction in 1977, and in June 1978 the Supreme Court ruled six to three in TVA v. Hill that the Endangered Species Act barred completion even though the dam was around eighty percent built and some seventy-eight million dollars had been spent. The specially created Endangered Species Committee then declined to grant an exemption in January 1979. Congress passed one anyway as a rider, President Carter signed it in September 1979, and the gates closed that November. The darter's story ended better than the case suggested: transplanted populations took hold, its range grew from about thirteen miles of one river to over four hundred miles across the valley, and it was delisted as recovered in 2022.
What the water covered was older than any of it. The Little Tennessee valley held Chota, which both Europeans and Native Americans treated as the Cherokee capital, and Tanasi, the town that gave Tennessee its name. Toqua, Tomotley, Citico, Mialoquo and Tuskegee went under too. Fort Loudoun was saved by raising its site seventeen feet. Two memorials stand above the water: one for Tanasi, and the Chota Memorial's eight pillars, one for each of the seven Cherokee clans and one for the nation.
Tellico Lake — frequently asked
How much does Tellico Lake's level change?
Not much, roughly six feet a year. Tellico is joined to Fort Loudoun Lake by an 850-foot canal and the two are operated jointly, so Tellico follows Fort Loudoun's published band: a minimum winter elevation of 807 feet and a typical summer operating range of 812 to 813 feet. That makes it one of the steadier reservoirs on this site, unlike TVA's tributary storage lakes with their deep winter drawdowns.
Does Tellico Dam generate electricity?
No. Tellico Dam has no generators. Water is diverted through a canal into Fort Loudoun Reservoir and generated there, through Fort Loudoun's four units. The canal also lets barges reach the Little Tennessee without passing a lock. The two reservoirs share flood damage reduction, power production and navigation as joint functions.
What was the snail darter case about?
Tellico Dam. A snail darter was found in the Little Tennessee in 1973 and listed as endangered in 1975. In TVA v. Hill, decided in June 1978, the Supreme Court ruled six to three that the Endangered Species Act barred completing the dam even though it was roughly eighty percent finished. A specially created committee declined to grant an exemption in January 1979, so Congress passed one as a rider and President Carter signed it that September. The gates closed in November 1979.
What happened to the snail darter?
It recovered. Populations transplanted from the Little Tennessee starting in 1975 took hold in the Hiwassee and Holston and spread further, additional wild populations were found, and improved dam release practices from 1991 helped. Its range grew from about thirteen miles of one river to over four hundred miles across the Tennessee valley. It was downlisted to threatened in 1984 and removed from the endangered species list entirely in 2022, on the grounds of recovery.
What was flooded to create Tellico Lake?
A significant part of the Cherokee homeland. The reservoir covered Chota, which both Europeans and Native Americans regarded as the Cherokee capital, and Tanasi, the town that gave Tennessee its name, along with Toqua, Tomotley, Citico, Mialoquo and Tuskegee. Fort Loudoun was preserved by excavating and raising its site seventeen feet. TVA acquired the land through federal eminent domain.
Can you still visit Chota and Tanasi?
Yes, as memorials. Two monuments were erected in the 1980s above the water line. The Chota Memorial consists of eight pillars, one for each of the seven Cherokee clans and one for the nation, on the townhouse site raised above the reservoir and reached by a causeway. Chief Oconostota was reinterred beside it at Cherokee request; most other burials were reinterred in 1986 at the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum. The Tanasi Memorial stands on the shoreline about seven miles southeast of Vonore.
Other lakes near Tellico Lake
- Tims Ford LakeTN
- South Holston LakeTN/VA
- Watauga LakeTN
- Pickwick LakeAL/TN/MS
- Watts Bar LakeTN
- Parksville Lake (Ocoee No. 1)TN
See current levels for all 23 Tennessee lakes and reservoirs →
Add this gauge to your website
Run a marina, boat rental, guide service, or real-estate site on Tellico Lake? Put this free live-level widget on your page — just copy and paste the code: