Chatuge Dam needs a new spillway. What the drawdown to 1908 means for the lake

Chatuge Dam’s spillway is 84 years old, and TVA says it can’t be trusted in a rare, huge flood. Fixing it means taking the lake down to 1908 ft, 10 feet below normal winter pool. Here’s what’s been decided, what hasn’t, and when it could happen.

What’s wrong with the spillway

TVA built Chatuge Dam in 1941–42 with a side-channel “ski-jump” spillway. Studies from 2016 to 2022 found the spillway’s concrete chute slab in poor condition. In a very rare flood, TVA says, sections of the slab could be torn out, a risk it calls “outside of TVA tolerances.” Since December 2023 TVA has added monitoring, repaired joints, sealed cracks and updated its emergency plan while it works out a permanent fix.

Source: TVA notice of intent, Federal Register, April 21, 2025.

How low, and for how long

In April 2025 TVA laid out its options. Every repair option draws Chatuge down to 1908 ft. The first versions ran from about 4 years of drawdown (a new spillway) to as long as 8 years of construction (rebuilding the existing joints).

That set off the biggest public response the lake has seen. More than 1,700 comments came in before scoping closed on May 28, 2025. In Hiawassee, where the lake wraps around most of town, people told the AJC “the lake is everything.” Marina owners said a multi-year drawdown would put them out of business.

In June 2025 TVA changed course. It narrowed the plans to ones that avoid summer drawdowns: the lake would come down only in fall and winter, for about two off-seasons, with construction starting in late 2027 or early 2028. Towns County Commissioner Cliff Bradshaw said, “We can definitely work with that.”

Sources: Federal Register; AJC, June 26, 2025; AJC, May 2025; Save Lake Chatuge.

What happens next

• Draft environmental impact statement: expected fall or winter 2026, with a public comment period.
• Final decision: expected in 2027, picking the repair plan and the drawdown schedule.
• Construction and drawdowns: late 2027 at the earliest, fall and winter only.

We’ll post the draft statement and the comment dates here as soon as TVA publishes them.

What 1908 ft would mean on the water

Normal winter pool is about 1918 ft, and the lake already runs about 8 feet below summer every winter. At 1908 it would be another 10 feet down: 18 feet below summer pool. The last time the lake went this far below winter pool on purpose was the winter of 2014–15, when TVA held it at 1911–1913 ft so crews could remove the old NC 175 bridge, and warned boaters about obstructions that came up.

No agency has published which ramps would still work at 1908. Ramps with long, deep concrete, like Ledford Chapel, Jackrabbit Mountain and Mayor’s Park, are the likeliest. We’ll map it when TVA announces dates.

Follow along

Today’s level is at the top of every page, and the water level page has TVA’s yearly pattern. Got a question you want answered before the drawdown? Email office@wannagrowbrand.com.