Lake Blue Ridge Water Level
Lake Blue Ridge is at 1,672.63 ft today (Oct 18), 13.37 ft below its 1,686 ft full pool, down 1.61 ft this week.
Georgia · Toccoa River
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Water level history
About Lake Blue Ridge
Lake Blue Ridge is a reservoir on the Toccoa River in Georgia, operated by Tennessee Valley Authority. It sits in the Chattahoochee National Forest and is known for clear, deep water. Its full summer pool sits at 1686 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and update hourly.
Understanding Lake Blue Ridge's water level
Blue Ridge Dam sits on the Toccoa River in the mountains of north Georgia, and it predates the Tennessee Valley Authority by almost a decade. The Toccoa Electric Power Company, a subsidiary of the Tennessee Electric Power Company, built the earthen dam between 1925 and 1930 and put it into service in July 1931; TVA bought the plant from Tennessee Electric Power Company in 1939 as part of its systemwide purchase of the region's private power companies. The dam is 175 feet high and 1,553 feet across, and it holds back Lake Blue Ridge at a full summer pool of 1,686 feet, with roughly 68,500 acre-feet of flood storage above that. TVA runs Blue Ridge as one of ten tributary reservoirs in its system: the lake fills through spring, holds near full pool from June 1 through Labor Day for recreation, then draws down through fall and winter to open flood storage, with a normal swing of about 22 feet between summer and winter pool.
The lake's deepest drawdown on record was not a drought but a repair job. In 2010 TVA lowered Blue Ridge roughly 60 feet, to about 1,625 to 1,630 feet, to rebuild the dam's penstock and reinforce its earthen faces. The low water held through the following winter, the lake did not get back near full summer pool until around August 2011, and TVA then held it near 1,672 feet through the summer of 2012 after engineers found unexpected ground movement. The work changed water temperatures released downstream, and state biologists recorded an 80 percent drop in trout numbers on the lower Toccoa River between electrofishing surveys done in fall 2009 and fall 2010; Georgia has stocked the river above its normal rate ever since to rebuild that fishery. TVA is now studying Blue Ridge Dam again, this time for earthquake and extreme-rainfall risk to the aging earthfill structure, with results due in 2026 and no lake level changes yet decided.
About 80 percent of the lake's 65 miles of shoreline borders the Chattahoochee National Forest, and TVA's own water quality monitoring, run every year at the forebay since 1994, rated Blue Ridge's ecological health good in 2020, with good marks for clarity and low chlorophyll and only a fair mark for dissolved oxygen in the deep water each June. Sixteen fish species turned up in those surveys, led by redbreast sunfish, bluegill and whitetail shiners, but anglers come for walleye, which have sustained a self-supporting run since the 1960s without stocking. Georgia DNR now reports that run declining and is weighing supplemental stocking, while blueback herring and spotted bass, both illegally introduced rather than stocked, have reshuffled the food chain and produced bigger walleye than anglers used to catch. Winter drawdowns of 30 feet or more can leave Morganton Point's boat ramp high and dry; only the ramp at Blue Ridge Marina stays usable through the low months.
Lake Blue Ridge — frequently asked
What is Lake Blue Ridge's full pool level?
Full summer pool is 1,686 feet. TVA holds the lake near that mark from June 1 through Labor Day for boating and swimming, then begins a fall drawdown once the recreation season ends. In a normal year the reservoir swings about 22 feet between summer and winter pool, with a winter target close to 1,660 feet under the current operating guide.
Why does Lake Blue Ridge drop so much in winter?
Blue Ridge is a flood-storage reservoir, one of ten TVA uses to catch runoff on Tennessee River tributaries. Lowering it each fall opens room within its roughly 68,500 acre-feet of flood storage before winter storms arrive. TVA then lets the lake refill through spring so it is back near full pool by early June for the recreation season.
When was Lake Blue Ridge at its lowest recorded level?
The deepest drawdown on record came in 2010, when TVA dropped the lake about 60 feet, to roughly 1,625 to 1,630 feet, to rebuild the dam's penstock and reinforce its earthen faces. The lake stayed low through winter, and TVA held it near 1,672 feet through the summer of 2012 after finding unexpected ground movement, well below a typical summer pool.
Who built Blue Ridge Dam, and when did TVA take it over?
The Toccoa Electric Power Company, a subsidiary of the Tennessee Electric Power Company, built the 175-foot earthen dam between 1925 and 1930 and put it into service in July 1931. TVA bought the plant from Tennessee Electric Power Company in 1939, about eight years after it began generating power.
Is Blue Ridge Dam considered safe today?
TVA calls it safe under current conditions but is running a formal safety study, due in 2026, into two risks: how the dam's semi-hydraulic earthen fill would hold up in a severe earthquake, and how its aging spillway concrete would handle an extreme flood. TVA installed warning sirens near the dam in 2022 as a precaution and has not decided on any resulting changes to lake levels.
What fish are in Lake Blue Ridge?
It has a self-sustaining walleye fishery dating to the 1960s, plus largemouth, spotted and occasional smallmouth bass, white bass, catfish and yellow perch. Georgia DNR says walleye numbers are declining and is considering supplemental stocking. Blueback herring and spotted bass reached the lake through illegal introductions rather than agency stocking, and the herring have since helped walleye grow larger.
Can you fish the Toccoa River below the dam?
Yes. The lower Toccoa is a cold tailwater trout fishery running about 15 miles to McCaysville, stocked by Georgia DNR with up to 20,000 trout a year. Flow depends entirely on TVA's hydropower releases and can rise fast once generation starts, so anglers wading the river check TVA's release schedule before heading out.
Other lakes near Lake Blue Ridge
- Carters LakeGA
- Lake BlackshearGA
- Lake ChatugeGA/NC
- Lake AllatoonaGA
- Lake Harding (Bartletts Ferry)GA/AL
- West Point LakeGA/AL
See current levels for all 16 Georgia lakes and reservoirs →
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