Water Management Report for Cumberland River Basin

Dale Hollow

Moving downstream from Lake Cumberland and Wolf Creek Dam, one comes next to another major tributary storage reservoir, Dale Hollow. The dam is located on the Obey River about 7.3 miles above its confluence with the Cumberland River at Celina, Tennessee.

Dale Hollow Dam has been key to water management in the Cumberland River Basin during 2007. Water stored at Dale Hollow has been used to replace some of the system water deficit that resulted from reduced storage at Lake Cumberland.

Dale Hollow has figured prominently in this year's water management strategy. Dale Hollow remains the only storage reservoir in the upper/mid portion of the Cumberland River system that is not compromised by safety concerns and resulting lowered pool fill restrictions. The Corps, knowing that there would be severe restrictions on water levels in Lake Cumberland, opted to overfill Dale Hollow by about two feet this spring above the top of the power pool to an elevation of 653 feet above msl.

Storage of this excess water provided a critical cushion for water management by allowing a heavy withdrawal from the project to occur beginning in early June. Dale Hollow has continued to supply approximately 50% of the flow ultimately passing through the Cumberland River in Nashville since early June. This flow is critical to downstream main stem reservoirs like Cordell Hull and Old Hickory.

Dale Hollow continues to be the only hydropower plant to produce a fairly normal amount of power of the nine power producing projects the Corps operates in the Cumberland River Basin. The most recent survey of water quality in the portion of the lake near the dam indicated good water quality with cold, well oxygenated conditions. The quality of the release from the dam continues to be favorable, with cold (~48.50F) and well oxygenated dissolved oxygen of 8.1 parts per million (ppm). Oxygen saturation of the water was 71%.