Wolf Creek Dam Project to be completed soon

By Chris Erwin

In 2007, we got the word that the Wolf Creek Dam on Lake Cumberland was in danger of releasing enough water to flood the downstream area below the dam including Nashville and the entire Cumberland River water basin. This could have caused billions of dollars in damages along with endangering the lives of anyone in its path.

Bold steps had to be made.  The U.S. Corps of Army Engineers quickly came up with a plan to repair the dam, but it required reducing water levels in the lake by 40 feet while the fix was completed. Lake Cumberland’s normal operating levels in the summer had been around 723 ft. above sea level, making Cumberland one of the largest and deepest lakes in Kentucky.

This was the second time this dam fell into the danger zone prompting officials into action. A similar smaller-scale fix was attempted in 1976. This time, however, the difference is in the barrier wall’s greater mass and depth as well as the materials and methodology used.

Now, more than five years later, the announcement that the project is slated to be completed in the spring of 2013 – a year ahead of schedule – is great news for all of Kentucky’s outdoor community as well as anyone connected to the area’s tourism concerns.

The water will come back up in at least two stages. The first is scheduled to happen this spring where engineers hope to raise the water to 700 to 705 ft. This will be about a 20-foot rise in water levels.

There are a few things that must pass inspection by officials as this comes about, once the water level hits this first stage it will be monitored and inspected to see how the dam and new construction will handle the new water pressure. If this stage is successful, plans are to raise the water to the old levels by the fall of 2013. This will add about another 20 ft. to water levels bringing it back to the 723 ft. mark.

Almost all outdoor enthusiasts believe it will be a big boom to the lake and should help tourism levels return to pre-repair levels. Gerry Buynak, assistant fisheries director for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, said adding water atop the lake’s overgrown banks will boost fish populations in Lake Cumberland for the next three to five years.

“This will result in a ‘new lake’ fish population boom, with very good spawns of fish such as bass and crappie expected,” he said. “This vegetation will also provide cover for young fish so survival should increase resulting in the production of very strong year classes.”

To help kick start this population growth the Department of Fish Wildlife will stock Cumberland will add an additional 150,000 walleyes and striped bass to normal stocking numbers this year. Altogether, the department will add 1 million walleye and striped bass to the lake this year to give fishing a boost. In addition, the downstream area will also get 10,000 trout that larger than 15 inches next winter.

“This will bring the fishery back quicker as the abundance of the larger rainbow trout in the tail water has declined drastically due to poor water conditions,” Buynak said.

This past spring Tom Clay and I fished the Conley Bottom area for smallmouth. We had good success. Even though the banks of the lake are barren of most vegetation, this progress of the dam completion should boost the already good fishing bringing back one of the most productive fisheries in the state.