Duke Energy recently completed enhancements to the Lake Wateree Dam that will improve water management and reduce the number of small to moderate flooding events on the lake. The project involved removing about 5,200 tons of concrete and installing new pneumatically controlled steel spillway gates. Those gates will provide approximately 14,000 cubic feet per second (more than 75,000 gallons per second) of additional controlled flow release capacity from Lake Wateree.
“These enhancements put us in a better position to manage the entire Catawba-Wateree River Basin because it allows for more flexibility at Lake Wateree, the last lake in the 11-lake chain,” said Jeff Lineberger, general manager of water strategy, hydro licensing and lake services for Duke Energy. “Not only will this benefit our Lake Wateree neighbors, but this project should benefit communities up and down the basin when we experience heavy rain events.”
The spillway flow release modification project was a requirement of the license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 2015 for the Catawba-Wateree Hydro Project and Duke Energy’s commitment to the communities it serves. The project was completed ahead of the required schedule. All ramps, access areas and beaches have fully re-opened for public use