1. Angling

2. Residential restrictions

3. Access

4. Hydroelectric power

5. Drought and environmental impact
    The 2001-2002 drought  The 2007–2008 drought  Drought management 

6. See also

7. References

8. External links

The lake has several bridges crossing the creeks that feed it. The NC 8 (Southmont) causeway crosses the Abbotts Creek tributary of the lake, as does a bridge at Holloway Church Road farther north of Abbotts Creek. There are numerous other bridges located in both Davidson and Rowan counties. Railroad tracks and their causeways also cross the southeastern portion of the lake at the Hwy 8 causeway and over Flat Swamp Creek. Numerous communities align the lake's banks including Lexington, Salisbury, Southmont, Linwood, High Rock, and Spencer.

Angling

High Rock Lake has been considered one of the best fishing lakes of North Carolina for a long time.^[4] It has been the host of Bassmaster Tournaments, including the Bassmaster Classic in 1994, 1995, and 1998 ^[5] and is the site of frequent other angling competitions. The lake has ample channel, blue, and flathead catfish, plus crappie and several different sunfish such as bluegill, shellcracker and others. Striper and their hybrids as well as white bass are also abundant. The lake is best known for its quantity and quality of largemouth bass, which attract anglers from all over the United States. This is likely due to the relatively shallow nature of the lake and the tremendous amount of habitat that favor the bass.

Residential restrictions

Much of High Rock Lake is lined with privately owned homes, representing all income levels. Prior to 2008, Alcoa had required that all new homes have {{convert|8|ft|m}} of water when at full pond and have {{convert|200|ft|m}} of lake frontage before a private pier permit is issued. Boat ramps and boathouses are no longer allowed to be built, although existing structures that are maintained are grandfathered. Retaining walls at the high water mark are only allowed in extreme cases, although existing structures can be maintained. Private piers are required to be of a floating style, allowing them to be usable even with lowered water levels. The new 38 year FERC License allows greater flexibility to add roof structures over many existing piers and modifying pier sizes, as well as a few other changes that offer somewhat more flexibility to existing lake front home owners.

Access

There are several public ramps that can be accessed at no charge, and private ramps that can be accessed for a small fee. The lake has no restrictions on boat motor size and personal water craft are legal for use. There are no restrictions to access or use and it is available for use 24 hours a day. There are a number of campgrounds that adjoin the lake, some offering year round space rentals that also provide access to guests.

Hydroelectric power

High Rock Lake was formed by one of four Yadkin Project dams that produce hydroelectric power for the surrounding communities. The entire Yadkin Project has a total generating capacity of nearly 215 megawatts of electricity when operating at peak capacity.^[6] The lake was intended to regulate the water in Badin Lake downstream.^[7] While hydroelectric electricity may produce less green house gas emissions than fossil fuel power plants, the Yadkin Project dams have a history of environmental impacts, with low dissolved oxygen in the tailraces of multiple dams and water quality violations for turbidity, ph and chlorophyll-a on High Rock Lake.^[8] and fish consumption advisories for PCBs on Badin Lake.^[9]

Drought and environmental impact

The 2001-2002 drought

Record low streamflows caused by unusually dry weather resulted in extremely low water levels at High Rock Lake during the Southeastern United States Drought of 2002.^[10] These dry weather patterns began in 1998 and persisted until 2002. The final year of the drought was the worst for the lake.^[11] With water levels well below full pond, fish began to die ^[12] due to overcrowding and a lack of water oxygen content, filling the air with rancid smells. Tourism in the area dropped and residents along the lake began to complain. When water levels plummeted to six feet above the "run of river" state (24 feet below normal), federal and state agencies closed the High Rock dam, forcing reservoirs like Badin Lake and Lake Tillery (who were at full pond status) to pick up the slack to maintain flows on the lower Yadkin/Pee Dee River. This allowed High Rock Lake to return to a level of {{convert|17|ft|m}} below full pond before going down again. In the fall of 2002, the drought eased up and the Yadkin Valley experienced one of the wettest 15 months on record. By the end of 2003, water tables in the area were back to normal levels.

The 2007–2008 drought

Until Hurricane Fay passed through the area in late August 2008, most of North Carolina was experiencing drought levels that ranged from Severe to Exceptional (the highest level),^[13] with rainfall averages below yearly average for the entire state, including the entire Yadkin-Pee Dee watershed. Alcoa was keeping water levels at slightly higher than historical levels for the same time of year for that reason, and possibly because their contract with the US government expired in April 2008 and was being renegotiated while Alcoa operated under a renewable one-year license. While the hurricane brought tremendous amounts of rain in a short period, filling all area lakes, it did little to replenish ground water levels, which create much of the runoff that continuously feeds streams and lakes statewide. Thirty days after receiving up to {{convert|10|in|mm}} of rain, most of the state still remained in mild to moderate drought status, with exceptional drought conditions (the highest level) persisting in the southwestern section of the state.

Because the 2002 drought was severe enough to not allow the launching of boats for fishing (or any other purpose), the number of fish that were killed off may have been proportional to the number that would have been caught and kept. The current number of fish in the lake appears to be close to normal. This is further demonstrated by the success of the May 2007 Bass Master's Tournament, and that there are no additional restrictions placed on the lake for fish size, excepting the longstanding restriction for crappie, which have a minimum size restriction of {{convert|8|in|mm}}.^[14] Many of the images of fish kills show the primary victim fishes as carp, which are not highly prized in the area and have since made a comeback in numbers.

Drought management

During the 2007-2008 drought, Alcoa sought and obtained permission from the U.S. Government to reduce the output from High Rock Lake from {{convert|1400|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}} to {{convert|900|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}} during the fall, which allowed it to maintain higher lake levels. The 2008 protocols allowed Alcoa to reduce the output at the dam to be equal to the amount of water entering the lake through various creeks and the Yadkin River. While this didn't allow the lake level to rise in dry periods, it prevented rapid decreases in the lake level and helped to maintain a steady waterflow for cities that used water from the river downstream, particularly in South Carolina which has no dams or reservoirs on the Yadkin/Pee Dee river. This had the additional environmental benefit to wildlife that depends on the lakes and river for habitat, as the river flows and lake levels fluctuate less dramatically.

Additionally, Alcoa operated the lake using new guidelines that allow for parity in the lake levels of High Rock and Badin, farther downstream. Previously, Badin Lake had to be maintained at a level no lower than {{convert|2|ft|m|adj=on}} below full pond as long as High Rock could provide the water fast enough. New regulations expected to take effect in the new contract due in 2008 would make these temporary measures permanent, reducing the likelihood that High Rock would see lake levels that exceed {{convert|20|ft|m}} below full pond again. As a result of the new procedures, High Rock has been kept at near-record highs during late 2007 and early 2008. This was accomplished although the total inflow of water is less than it was during the 2002 drought, demonstrating that the previous conditions were related to both a lack of rainfall and antiquated lake management rules that were agreed to in the 1958 contract.^[15]

See also

• Abbotts Creek
• Alcoa Power Generating Inc.
• High Rock Lake Association
• Hydroelectricity
• Yadkin-Pee Dee River Basin

References

External links

• Non-profit group seeking to get the federal government to take control of High Rock Lake
• High Rock Lake Association
• High-Rock.com A collection of links, images, travel and directory info for the area
• High Rock River Rats
• SaveHighRockLake.org
• A Fairly-Watered State - Lessons from the Drought-Vulnerable Yadkin Basin Region

• Keppo
• Keppoch-Kinlock, Prince Edward Island
• Keppoch, South Australia
• KEPT
• Kept Back
• KEPT-LP
• Kept man
• Kept Man (2014 film)
• Kept Me Crying
• Kept (song)
• Kept Woman (song)
• Keputran
• Keqiang
• Keqiao Line
• Keqiao line
• Keqin Li
• Ke-Qin Ma
• Keqin Ma
• KEQMS
• Kequyen Lam
• Kerabari Gaunpalika
• Kerabari Gaupalika
• Kerabari Rural Municipality
• Keraia (Crete)
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