1948 63mwNet Watauga Dam on Watauga River near Elizabethton, TN

Dam: (Satellite)

Power House: (Satellite)

TVA
"At more than 1,900 feet above sea level, Watauga holds the distinction of being the highest reservoir in the Tennessee River system."
"Watauga Dam is 318 feet [97m] high and extends 900 feet [274m] across the Watauga River."

Elizabethton/Carter County Priority News & Alerts posted three photos with the comment:

We were very lucky because that water comes out and it’s not at a controlled rate down stream. 

Completed in 1948, Watauga Dam in Elizabethton, TN, features a Morning Glory spillway. With the crest at 1,975' elevation,  the Morning Glory has NEVER been used.

Because of heavy rainfall from the storm [Hurricane Helene] water levels rose to just 4 feet below the opening on Saturday! 

📸TVA

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Oct 1, 2024: The reservoir reached a record level of 1,979.29', which broke the previous record by about 3'. [wjhl] This record was caused by Hurrican Helene.

It is important that the spillway has enough capacity to handle a flood because the dam is an earthen dam. I wonder where the outlet of the spillway is located.

Satellite

This photo shows more of the dam.

TennesseeRiverValleyGeoTourism

TVA posted five photos with the comment:

Last year [2024], Hurricane Helene swept through our region, dropping massive amounts of rain into our river system and raising Watauga Lake in northeast TN to historic levels, just feet below its unique morning glory spillway. 

We delve into our archives for a look at the construction of Watauga Dam, which is essential for flood storage and also produces 63 megawatts of reliable electricity.

Michael Casper: Not my post but good Info from last year.

I just finished watching a documentary about the aftermath of Helene. It addressed both the tragedy of the losses sustained by so many in east Tennessee and the indomitable spirit spirit of the people of this region that we call home.

One of the things that I've not seen much about in all of the coverage of Helene is the impact that TVA and, more specifically, Watauga Lake had in mitigating the impact on areas downstream.

Watauga was at about 1952' on September 25th instead of the 1959' called for in its operating guide. This unseasonable level was the result of drought conditions that caused TVA to lower Watauga to push cold water downstream to sustain fish populations in lower lying reservoirs in the latter days of summer.

By September 28th, Watauga had peaked at 1971'. Watauga rose 19' in about forty-eight hours. Watauga is listed as having surface area of 6,430 acres. It likely covered a few more acres when at 1971'. An acre/foot of water, the amount of water that covers an acre with water one foot deep is 325,851 gallons.

If I did the math right, that means that Watauga kept just under 40 billion gallons of water from inundating areas downstream of the dam. I know that many of you sustained some form of damage to campers and docks and I'm sorry that happened but I hope that we can all agree that the inconvenience caused by the high lake level during Helene was a blessing because it likely prevented a number of deaths below the dam.

C Stephen Clayton: What’s the fencing for in last picture?

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Andrea Childress Tall commented on Clayton's comment
Water is usually much lower so there is fencing around it to keep people out of there.