Tallest Dams in South Carolina

South Carolina has 2400 dams with recorded heights. The tallest is Saluda Backup Berm at 213 feet. Taller dams impound more water and carry greater potential energy, which is why height is a key factor in hazard classification and inspection requirements.

#	Dam	County	Height (ft)	Type	Purpose	Hazard	Year
1	Saluda Backup Berm	Lexington	213		Hydroelectric	High	2005
2	Ridgeway Tailings Impdam	Fairfield	189		Other	Undetermined
3	North Saluda Reservoir Dam	Greenville	175		Water Supply	High	1956
4	West Dam, Bad Creek	Oconee	170	Earth	Hydroelectric	High	1991
5	Table Rock Reservoir Dam	Pickens	155		Water Supply	High	1925
6	Cooper Dev - Pinopolis Dam	Berkeley	138	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1942
7	Wylie	York	119	Gravity	Hydroelectric	High	1925
8	Rocky Creek-cedar Creek	Fairfield	117	Gravity	Hydroelectric	High	1909
9	Summer Cat I Emergency Cooling Water	Fairfield	113	Earth	Other	Low	1979
10	Duckwood Tailings Storage Facility	Lancaster	110		Tailings	High
11	Fishing Creek	Lancaster	105	Gravity	Hydroelectric	High	1916
12	Catawba Reservoir No 2	Lancaster	100		Water Supply	Low
13	Buzzards Roost Spillway	Newberry	93	Gravity	Hydroelectric	High	1940
14	Wateree	Kershaw	92	Gravity	Hydroelectric	High	1919
15	Yonah	Oconee	92	Gravity	Hydroelectric	High	1925
16	D.o.e. Savannah River Pond C	Barnwell	82	Earth	Other	Low	1957
17	Pad 6 Overflow Pond Dam	Chesterfield	80		Other	Low	1990
18	Lee Nuclear Dam 1	Cherokee	79		Other	Low
19	D.o.e. Savannah River Steel Creek Dam	Barnwell	77	Earth	Other	High	1986
20	Clemson Upper Diversion Dam	Oconee	75	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1961
21	Catawba Standby Nuclear Service Water	York	75	Earth	Other	Low	1982
22	South Pacolet River Reservoir 1	Spartanburg	74		Hydroelectric	High	1926
23	Lake Whelchel	Cherokee	73		Recreation	High	1964
24	Thicketty Creek Wcd 25	Cherokee	73		Flood Risk Reduction	High	1973
25	Lake Robinson Dam	Greenville	73		Recreation	High	1984
26	Ninety Nine Islands	Cherokee	72	Concrete	Hydroelectric	High	1909
27	Rabon Creek Wcd Dam 32	Laurens	72		Flood Risk Reduction	High	1987
28	H Taylor Blalock Reservoir Dam	Spartanburg	72		Water Supply	High
29	Santee	Berkeley	68	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1942
30	D.o.e. Savannah River Par Pond Lower Dam	Barnwell	66	Earth	Other	High	1959
31	Oolenoy River Wcd Dam 9	Pickens	66		Flood Risk Reduction	High	1978
32	Hickory Hollow Farm Dam	Spartanburg	66		Recreation	Low	1971
33	Lee Nuclear Dam 4	Cherokee	65		Other	Low
34	Union-lancaster Water Supply Dam	Lancaster	65		Water Supply	Low	1992
35	Jocassee Spillway	Oconee	64	Gravity	Hydroelectric	High	1973
36	Keowee River Club Dam	Pickens	63		Irrigation	Significant	2001
37	North Tyger River Wcd Dam 2	Spartanburg	61		Flood Risk Reduction	High	1976
38	Beaverdam Creek Wcd Dam 4	Oconee	60		Flood Risk Reduction	High	1973
39	Oolenoy Wcd Dam 40	Pickens	60		Recreation	High	1984
40	Lockhart Dam Powerhouse	Union	60	Gravity	Hydroelectric	Low	1920
41	Ws Lee Steam Plant Secondary Ash Pond Dam	Anderson	58		Other	Undetermined	1975
42	Timberlake Dam 1	Spartanburg	58		Fish and Wildlife Pond	Low	1975
43	Daves Pond Dam	York	58		Recreation	Low	1998
44	Little Lynches Wcd Dam 12	Lancaster	57		Flood Risk Reduction	High	1979
45	Beaverdam Creek Wcd Dam 2	Oconee	57		Flood Risk Reduction	High	1974
46	Brown's Creek Wcd Dam 2	Union	57		Flood Risk Reduction	High	1973
47	Wood Valley Dam	Aiken	56		Recreation	Low	1978
48	Cane Creek Wcd Dam 10d	Lancaster	56		Flood Risk Reduction	High	1984
49	Muthig Pond Dam	Richland	56		Fish and Wildlife Pond	Low
50	Thicketty Creek Wcd 19	Cherokee	55		Flood Risk Reduction	High	1971

← All dams in South Carolina · Tallest dams nationwide