Lake Chatuge is a man-made reservoir in

Towns County, Georgia Towns County is a county in the Northeast region of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,493. Its county seat is Hiawassee. The county was created on March 6, 1856, and named for lawyer, legislator, and pol ...

, and

Clay County, North Carolina Clay County is a county located in the far western part of U.S. state North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 11,089. The county seat is Hayesville. History Early inhabitants The area that became Clay County has lo ...

. It was formed by the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...

's construction of

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 ...

(then the highest earthen dam in the world) in 1942. The lake is relatively shallow with depths of and reaches by the dam. In an average year the water level varies from winter to summer to provide seasonal flood storage. Lake Chatuge is the highest major lake in the state of Georgia. It takes up 7,000 acres (2,800 ha) and is long. The lake is named after an 18th-century

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

Native American settlement once located near the dam site.Tennessee Valley Authority, ''The Hiwassee Valley Projects Volume 2: The Apalachia, Ocoee No. 3, Nottely, and Chatuge Projects'', Technical Report No. 5 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1948), pp. 1-8, 17-19, 50-55, 209, 214, 222, 232, 496-497. The word means “Beautiful” and “Land where the waters meet” (the lake covers the meeting place of the

Hiwassee River The Hiwassee River is a river in the states of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. It originates from a spring on the north slope of Rocky Mountain (Georgia), Rocky Mountain in Towns County, Georgia, Towns County in n ...

and Shooting Creek). The reservoir is home to rainbow trout, catfish, bass, crappie, walleye, blue gill and brim. Bass clubs hold tournaments on the lake.

History

The construction of Chatuge Dam and its reservoir required the purchase of 11,641 acres (4,711 ha) of land, 1,904 acres (771 ha) of which had to be cleared. 278 families, 532 graves, and of roads (including part of

U.S. Route 64 U.S. Route 64 (US 64) is an east–west United States highway that runs for 2,281 miles (3,672 km) from Nags Head in eastern North Carolina to just southwest of the Four Corners in northeast Arizona. The western terminus is at U.S. Route ...

and all of

NC 69 North Carolina Highway 69 (NC 69) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It runs north–south from the Georgia state line to Hayesville, west of Chatuge Lake. Route description NC 69 runs from th ...

) had to be relocated. One house relocated from the Elf community during the clearing of the land later became the Clay County School District superintendent’s office until 2005. The TVA delayed its plans to fill the lake after a 92-year-old resident suffered a severe stroke and could not be removed from his homestead without dying. After he died the next month, Chatuge Dam's flood gates were closed. In 2025, TVA acknowledged that ancient burial grounds may be covered by the lake. The total cost of creating Chatuge Lake was $8,874,866. Chatuge Dam was raised ten feet in 1954 so the lake level could rise an additional four feet. In 2024, TVA announced it was investigating an infestation of the invasive ''

Myriophyllum aquaticum ''Myriophyllum aquaticum'' is a flowering plant, a vascular dicot, commonly called parrot's-feather and parrot feather watermilfoil. Morphology and reproduction Parrot feather is a perennial plant named for its feather-like leaves which grow in ...

'' plant that was threatening the lake. TVA announced in 2025 that it is considering lowering Chatuge Lake's water level by an additional ten feet below its low winter level over four to eight years in order to complete extensive repairs to the dam's spillway.

References

{{authority control Protected areas of Clay County, North Carolina Protected areas of Towns County, Georgia Reservoirs in North Carolina Reservoirs in Georgia (U.S. state) Bodies of water of Clay County, North Carolina Bodies of water of Towns County, Georgia North Carolina placenames of Native American origin Georgia (U.S. state) placenames of Native American origin

History

See also

References