Largest Reservoirs in North Carolina

North Carolina has 3261 dams with recorded storage capacity. The largest is Fontana Dam with 1,552,689 acre-feet of maximum storage. One acre-foot equals about 326,000 gallons — enough to supply roughly two households for a year.

#	Dam	County	Max Storage (acre-ft)	Height (ft)	Purpose	Year
1	Fontana Dam	Graham	1,552,689	480	Flood Risk Reduction	1944
2	Falls Lake Dam	Wake	1,020,980	92	Flood Risk Reduction	1981
3	Gaston - South Saddle	Halifax	513,000	7	Hydroelectric	1963
4	Gaston - North Saddle	Northampton	513,000	14	Hydroelectric	1963
5	Hiwassee Dam	Cherokee	471,954	307	Flood Risk Reduction	1940
6	Hicks Crossroad Dike	Mecklenburg	414,100	30	Hydroelectric	1963
7	Cowans Ford	Mecklenburg	414,100	134	Hydroelectric	1963
8	W. Kerr Scott Dam	Wilkes	306,000	148	Flood Risk Reduction	1963
9	Linville	Burke	288,800	160	Hydroelectric	1919
10	Catawba	Burke	288,800	150	Hydroelectric	1919
11	Paddy Creek Embankment	Burke	288,800	165	Hydroelectric	1919
12	Paddy Creek Chute Spillway	Burke	288,800	1	Hydroelectric	1919
13	High Rock	Rowan	287,000	96	Hydroelectric	1927
14	Chatuge Dam	Clay	285,552	150	Flood Risk Reduction	1942
15	Belews Lake Dam	Rockingham	263,490	170	Other
16	Belews Creek Saddle Dike #4 Dam	Rockingham	263,490	21	Other
17	Belews Creek Saddle Dike #1 Dam	Stokes	263,490	62	Other	1971
18	Belews Creek Saddle Dike #2 Dam	Stokes	263,490	83	Other	1971
19	Belews Creek Saddle Dike #3 Dam	Stokes	263,490	29	Other	1971
20	Yadkin Narrows Bypass Spillway Control Structure	Montgomery	217,080	88	Hydroelectric	1917
21	Santeetlah	Graham	207,000	216	Hydroelectric	1928
22	Lake Hyco Dam	Person	160,000	68	Recreation	1963
23	Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant Main Dam	Chatham	153,150	108	Hydroelectric	1983
24	Mayo Lake Dam	Person	142,000	100	Flood Risk Reduction
25	Oxford	Alexander	127,500	122	Hydroelectric	1928
26	Nantahala	Macon	126,000	250	Hydroelectric	1942
27	Dicks Creek Dam	Macon	126,000	16	Hydroelectric	1942
28	White Oak Creek Dam	Macon	126,000	16	Hydroelectric	1942
29	Randleman Dam	Randolph	121,200	102	Recreation	2002
30	Blewett Falls	Anson	97,000	77	Hydroelectric	1912
31	Roanoke Rapids	Northampton	80,690	72	Hydroelectric	1955
32	Glenville Saddle Dike	Jackson	67,100	25	Hydroelectric	1941
33	Thorpe	Jackson	67,100	150	Hydroelectric	1941
34	Apalachia Dam	Cherokee	63,456	150	Hydroelectric	1943
35	Moss Lake Dam	Cleveland	51,032	99	Water Supply	1973
36	Mountain Island	Gaston	45,970	140	Hydroelectric	1923
37	Lake Lure Dam	Rutherford	44,914	124	Hydroelectric	1927
38	Cheoah	Graham	42,000	236	Hydroelectric	1919
39	Pcs Phosphate R-7 Blend Dike	Beaufort	40,875	35	Tailings	2007
40	Lake Townsend Dam	Guilford	38,285	41	Recreation	1969
41	Lake Don T. Howell Dam	Cabarrus	36,400	55	Water Supply	1993
42	Lake Cammack Dam	Alamance	36,000	61	Other
43	Bear Creek	Jackson	34,600	215	Hydroelectric	1954
44	Beaverdam Creek Lake Dam	Wake	33,300	40	Recreation	1974
45	Lake Mackintosh Dam	Alamance	30,825	69	Other	1992
46	Lake Auman Dam	Moore	28,014	93	Recreation	1979
47	Rhodhiss	Caldwell	27,570	72	Hydroelectric	1925
48	Roxboro Afterbay Dam	Person	27,000	68	Other	1974
49	Lookout Shoals	Catawba	26,390	88	Hydroelectric	1915
50	Oak Hollow Lake Dam	Guilford	24,500	54	Recreation	1971

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