Wolf Creek Dam

Wolf Creek Dam
Wolf Creek Dam is located in Kentucky
Wolf Creek Dam
Location of Wolf Creek Dam in Kentucky
LocationRussell County, Kentucky
Coordinates36°52′06″N 85°08′51″W / 36.8683°N 85.1475°W / 36.8683; -85.1475
Construction began1941
Opening date1951
Operator(s)U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Dam and spillways
ImpoundsCumberland River
Height258 ft (79 m)[1]
Length5,736 ft (1,748 m)[1]
Dam volume11,396,500 cu yd (8,713,200 m3)[1]
Reservoir
CreatesLake Cumberland
Total capacity6,089,000 acre⋅ft (7,511,000 dam3)[1]
Catchment area5,789 sq mi (14,990 km2)[1]
Surface area50,250 acres (20,340 ha)[1]
Power Station
Turbines6x 45.0 MW
Installed capacity270 MW

The Wolf Creek Dam is a multi-purpose dam on the Cumberland River in the western part of Russell County, Kentucky, United States. The dam serves at once four distinct purposes: it generates hydroelectricity; it regulates and limits flooding; it releases stored water to permit year-round navigation on the lower Cumberland River; and it creates Lake Cumberland for recreation, the largest man made lake by volume East of the Mississippi river. The Lake has become a popular tourist attraction.U.S. Route 127 is built on top of the dam.

Electricity from the dam is marketed by the Southeastern Power Administration.[2]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Wolf Creek Dam". National Performance of Dams Program, National Inventory of Dams. Stanford University. Retrieved 2012-10-10.
  2. ^ "Generation – Southeastern Power Administration". Energy.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-20.