Will Lake Cumberland’s

woes benefit Norris Lake?

Copyright 2007 LaFollette Press

A publication of the LaFollette Press

A guide to east Tennessee’s

hidden treasure

By JASON DAVIS

news@norrislife.com


Serious problems with a Kentucky dam may bring additional prosperity to the tourism industry surrounding Norris Lake.


Studies have deemed Wolf Creek Dam to be at “high risk” for structural failure. The dam in south central Kentucky forms Lake Cumberland, the largest man-made lake east of the Mississippi River.


As a result of those studies, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined the dam will require more $300 million in repairs.  To make that fix and lessen pressure on the dam, lake levels will have to be dropped 43 feet below the normal summertime levels, leaving many lake resorts and marinas without access to boat ramps.


The Corps of Engineers has listed 15 of the lake's boat ramps as unusable, with as many as 22 unusable once the lake reaches the corps goal safety level.


With Norris Lake less than a three-hour drive away, Campbell County's tourism industry could see marked improvement.

With repairs to the Wolf Creek Dam likely spread out over a number of years, many vacationers could make Norris Lake their permanent summer destination.


“I think it's going to favorably impact us,” Flat Hollow Marina owner Gary Farwick said Tuesday.  “The phones here have been ringing off the hook.”


Farwick said he's heard from many Lake Cumberland vacationers who are already planning to divert to Norris Lake.


Campbell County Chamber of Commerce Director Betty Snodderly agrees.

Citing Norris Lake's reputation for its clean waters, Snodderly said many Lake Cumberland regulars have noticed Norris.


“In the past few years, we've been getting some customers from Lake Cumberland,” Snodderly said.  “They say our lake is cleaner than Lake Cumberland.”


It's already been estimated the Lake Cumberland area could lose over 10 percent of its estimated $150 million in annual tourism dollars.



That number is dwarfed by the catastrophe that would occur if the dam failed.


According to Army Corps of Engineers, a breach of the dam could cause $3 billion in damages and hundreds of human casualties could occur.


“Public safety is our paramount concern,” Lt. Col. Steven J. Roemhildt, an official with the Corps of Engineers said in a press release on the issue.  “We understand the this decision (to lower the lake) will adversely impact many people, communities and businesses...but we must take this emergency action to reduce risk to the public and to the dam itself.”


The corps will revisit the lake's levels in September and October of this year for consideration of next years' levels.


In a somewhat unusual move, the corps released Wolf Creek Dam Failure Inundation Maps to several libraries in the downriver vicinity of Lake Cumberland.


“The maps show estimates of flooded areas based on a range of failure scenarios,” a press release from the corps said.


Maps of this kind are normally kept classified, due to terror threats. Under the circumstances, the corps deemed it necessary for emergency planning.


“The public's need for knowledge and understanding of the situation partly outweighs the need for security,” the release said.


The maps are available for viewing in nearly 20 libraries in towns that would be likely affected by a dam failure.