Chatuge Lake



Lake Chatuge is a man-made reservoir in Towns County, Georgia, and Clay County, North Carolina. It was formed by the Tennessee Valley Authority's construction of Chatuge Dam (then the highest earthen dam in the world) in 1942. The lake is relatively shallow with depths of 30 ft and reaches 144 ft by the dam. In an average year the water level varies 10 ft from winter to summer to provide seasonal flood storage. Lake Chatuge is the highest major lake in the state of Georgia. It takes up 7,000 acres (2,800 ha) and is 13 mi long.

The lake is named after an 18th-century Cherokee Native American settlement once located near the dam site. The word means “Beautiful” and “Land where the waters meet” (the lake covers the meeting place of the Hiwassee River and Shooting Creek). The reservoir is home to rainbow trout, catfish, bass, crappie, walleye, blue gill and brim. Bass clubs hold tournaments on the lake.

History
The construction of Chatuge Dam and its reservoir required the purchase of 11,641 acres (4,711 ha) of land, 1,904 acres (771 ha) of which had to be cleared. 278 families, 532 graves, and 40 mi of roads (including part of U.S. Route 64 and all of NC 69) had to be relocated. One house relocated from the Elf community during the clearing of the land later became the Clay County School District superintendent’s office until 2005. The TVA delayed its plans to fill the lake after a 92-year-old resident suffered a severe stroke and could not be removed from his homestead without dying. After he died the next month, Chatuge Dam's flood gates were closed.

The total cost of creating Chatuge Lake was $8,874,866. Chatuge Dam was raised ten feet in 1954 so the lake level could rise an additional four feet.

In 2024 TVA announced it was investigating an infestation of the invasive Myriophyllum aquaticum plant that was threatening the lake.