Tims Ford Lake is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...

run 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 Carolina ...

(TVA) in southern middle

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

. The lake encompasses 10,700 acres (16.7 square miles) and approximately 250 miles of shoreline. The Tims Ford Dam was named from an early ford crossing the Elk River near Winchester. The ford was on or near land owned by Abner Mansfield Tims, an early Franklin County settler. The ford was used until about 1885 when the Tims Ford Bridge was constructed across the river. The massive dam and reservoir construction program that was undertaken by TVA following its creation in 1933, required the purchase of over one million acres of land for the creation of 34 reservoirs in five of the seven states in the Tennessee Valley region. The lake is home to the 3,546 acre Tims Ford State Park. There are six islands on the lake that are accessible for camping and exploring: Leatherwood Island, Big Island, Little Island, Maple Bend Island, Goose Island, and Devils Step Island. The camping is primitive with no facilities and is managed by Tims Ford State Park. Access to the islands is via either boat or kayak. Tims Ford Lake was designated
Bill Dance Signature Lake
on Dec 21, 2021. This designation provides funds to the lake for above-the-water upgrades such as docks, fishing piers, and signage as well as other enhancements to fishing in the lake. The lake is bordered by 5 different cities. Winchester (which is the Franklin County seat), Decherd,

Estill Springs Estill Springs is a town in Franklin County, Tennessee, Franklin County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,267 at the 2020 census. It is usually referred to simply as "Estill" by its inhabitants. Estill Springs is part of the Tullaho ...

, Tullahoma, and Lynchburg.

Tims Ford Dam

''Tims Ford Dam'' was built by the TVA from 1966 to 1970, stands 175 feet high and 1580 feet long at its crest, and impounds the Elk River for an average of 40 megawatts of hydroelectric power. The reservoir has a flood storage capacity of 219,600

acre-feet The acre-foot is a non- SI unit of volume equal to about commonly used in the United States in reference to large-scale water resources, such as reservoirs, aqueducts, canals, sewer flow capacity, irrigation water, and river flows. An acre-f ...

. The water level in Tims Ford Reservoir varies about 15 feet in a normal year with the summer level being 888 feet above sea level. Tims Ford Dam was TVA’s first hydroelectric facility retrofitted with a small generating unit for the purpose of maintaining instantaneous downstream minimum flows. Additionally, 85,400 cubic yards of concrete make up Tims Ford Dam. The dam was built for a few key reasons according to TVA: # Create a navigable channel of the Elk River from a point 14 miles downstream. # The power generation would provide 40 megawatts of power from the generator. # The dam provides water supply and flood damage reduction downstream on the Elk River, primarily for

Fayetteville, Tennessee Fayetteville is a city and the county seat of Lincoln County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 6,994 at the 2000 census, and 6,827 at the 2010 census. A census estimate from 2018 showed 7,017. History Fayetteville is the largest cit ...

. # Opportunities for water oriented recreation "among the rolling hills of Middle Tennessee" # Future water supplies for towns in the area.

References

External links

TVA: Tims Ford ReservoirAll Things at Tims Ford Lake Area
* * Reservoirs in Tennessee Dams in Tennessee Protected areas of Franklin County, Tennessee Protected areas of Moore County, Tennessee Tennessee Valley Authority dams Dams completed in 1970 Bodies of water of Franklin County, Tennessee Bodies of water of Moore County, Tennessee {{MooreCountyTN-geo-stub