Chatuge Dam

Chatuge Dam is a flood control and hydroelectric dam on the Hiwassee River in Clay County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The dam is the uppermost of three dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1940s for flood storage and to provide flow regulation at Hiwassee Dam further downstream. The dam impounds the 7,000-acre (2,800 ha) Chatuge Lake, which straddles the North Carolina-Georgia state line. While originally built solely for flood storage, a generator installed at Chatuge in the 1950s gives the dam a small hydroelectric output. At the time it was built, Chatuge Dam was the highest earthen dam in the world until the Aswan Dam was built in Egypt in 1964. The dam and associated infrastructure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.

Chatuge Dam
Chatuge Dam contains Chatuge Reservoir
Official nameChatuge Dam
LocationClay County, North Carolina, United States
Coordinates35°1′3″N 83°47′28″W
Construction beganJuly 17, 1941
Opening dateFebruary 12, 1942
Operator(s)Tennessee Valley Authority
Dam and spillways
ImpoundsHiwassee River
Height144 ft (44 m)
Length2,850 ft (870 m)
Reservoir
CreatesChatuge Lake

Chatuge Dam is named for an 18th-century Cherokee village once situated near the dam site. The dam is the easternmost TVA energy facility in North Carolina.

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