Stockton Lake is a reservoir located in southeastern Cedar County, northeastern Dade County, and southwestern

Polk County, Missouri Polk County is a county located in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,519. The county seat is Bolivar. The county was organized January 5, 1835, and is named for Ezekiel Polk ...

. The lake is V-shaped, and covers , with of shoreline. It has three marinas, and 10 public-use areas. It has a "non-development policy," and is surrounded by unspoiled, tree-covered hills. Its banks are owned and operated by the Army Corps of Engineers. StoctonLakeBoats

Stockton Lake is one of Missouri's seven major lakes, all man-made. It was formed by damming the Sac River near the city of Stockton in 1969. The lake is crossed by three state highways over a network of six bridges. A pipeline carries water from Stockton Lake to Fellows Lake in northern Greene County to help supplement water for the city of Springfield. Stockton lake has numerous coves protected from the wind making it a great lake to wakeboard, water ski or other water sports.

Stockton Dam and hydroelectric power plant

After the USACE construction was complete on the dam, the lake began filling in 1969.Sac River Hydrology
Conservation Commission of Missouri The dam rises above the Sac River streambed. The lake is about with of shoreline. Normal pool is at above

mean sea level A mean is a quantity representing the "center" of a collection of numbers and is intermediate to the extreme values of the set of numbers. There are several kinds of means (or "measures of central tendency") in mathematics, especially in statist ...

(msl) with storage of . The flood storage capacity of the lake is of water at an elevation of msl, during which the surface area of the reservoir grows to . Stockton Lake is operated primarily for flood control and

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

generation and originally had an installed capacity of 45.2 MW in a single electric generator.MDNR. 1986. Missouri water atlas. Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Jefferson City, Missouri. 97 pp. The original powerhouse of the dam had a single six-bladed

Kaplan turbine The Kaplan turbine is a propeller-type water turbine which has adjustable blades. It was developed in 1913 by Austrian professor Viktor Kaplan, who combined automatically adjusted propeller blades with automatically adjusted wicket gates to a ...

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

generator rated at 45.2 MW.Hydro Review: Replacing a Failed Runner at the Stockton Plant 03/07/2014
(typo is in original source saying 52 MW instead of 45.2 MW), Ryan Sollars, Daniel McGinnis and John Kinard. Hydroworld, Volume 33, Issue 2. The original turbine was placed in service in 1973. After years of heavy vibration and a poorly matched turbine design, one of the blades catastrophically failed in February 2009, causing an immediate shutdown of the plant. The sheared off blade, weighing , was later recovered from the river. The turbine runner was repaired in 2010 by welding the old blade back in place. Other cracks were also discovered and repaired at this time. While the repaired turbine was operating, the Corps of Engineers and contractors tried to determine how to correct the issues at Stockton Dam. Analysis concluded that the original turbine was likely rated for a much different site due to its ability to spin at nearly full power without tilting the blades past their "full flat" setting. Why the turbine and generator were mismatched has not been determined. Due to the significant issues and age of the turbine, an entirely new one was custom designed for replacement in 2014-2015. Upgrades for the $48 million project include: * The new 71,700-horsepower Kaplan turbine runner, with 7 bolt on blades (rather than 6), 75 rpm * rewiring the generator windings of the rotor and stator * electrical rating increase to 52 MWStockton Dam close to resuming hydroelectric power
''Washington Times'', January 20, 2014.New turbine makes trip to Stockton Dam
KY3 News, Dec 24, 2013. * new digital excitation system, surface air coolers, and digital governor for the generator * refurbishment of the mechanical accessories * 161 kV main power transformer replacement * Intake gate and draft tube bulkhead repairs * Salvage and in-place blade repair * emergency diesel generator replacement * asbestos abatement and lead paint removal. The Stockton Power Plant is a peaking plant that produces 55 GWh of average annual energy valued at $8.3 million. The new, more efficient turbine was installed in 2014 and became operational in January 2015.Stockton Power Plant Back Online
Southwestern Power Administration, Press Release, 2015-01-29
PDF
/ref> Part of the costs of the repair were offset by the

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (), nicknamed the Recovery Act, was a stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. Developed in response to the G ...

. The old turbine was placed on a pedestal above the road which crosses the dam.

Stockton Equestrian Trail

Stockton Lake features an equestrian trail that is approximately 15 miles long and travels in close proximity along the lake shore from Hawker Point to Orleans Trail Campgrounds.army.mil
Equestrian Trail This is a multi use trail for Hikers and Mountain biking, there are no motorized vehicles allowed.

Sailing at Stockton

The great sailing conditions are fueled by winds from

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

and

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, consistently blowing from west to east across the lake. About one-third of the 300 mile lake is accessible to

sailboats A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

, the bridges across the lake on Highway 215 and 245 prevent most sail boats from going farther on the lake, but this section of lake is still an ideal location for sailing. The Stockton Yacht club holds annual races on the lake that usually draw large numbers of boats, with the most prestigious of these races being the Governor's Cup Regatta.

References

External links

*http://www.stockton-lake.com/
army.mil
*Upgrades and costs of new turbine: http://www.swpa.gov/PDFs/Hydro/2014Meeting/Stockton-Rehabilitation_HentschelWankum.pdf

{{authority control Dams in Missouri Lakes of the U.S. Interior Highlands Protected areas of Cedar County, Missouri Protected areas of Dade County, Missouri Protected areas of Polk County, Missouri Buildings and structures in Cedar County, Missouri Buildings and structures in Dade County, Missouri Buildings and structures in Polk County, Missouri Reservoirs in Missouri Bodies of water of the Ozarks United States Army Corps of Engineers dams Bodies of water of Cedar County, Missouri Bodies of water of Dade County, Missouri Bodies of water of Polk County, Missouri