The Last Dam

Clean And Clear Catawba, by Alice Battle – May 4, 2012

Duke Power operates 18 power plants along the Catawba: 13 hydro, three coal and two nuclear plants, McGuire and the Catawba on the west side of Lake Wylie.  At one time, many major names in the textile industry – Burlington, Celanese, J.P. Stevens – operated plants along the river. There were other industries like the Bowater paper mill just south of Charlotte. These industries are not together in a single area, but are scattered from Great Falls to Old Fort.

Lake Hickory was created in 1928.  Duke built no dams on the middle Catawba from then till 1962. 

 Bill Lee, the grandson of the man who first designed the hydro dams in the early part of the 20th Century, was hired in 1957 to do a study on building a dam at Cowan’s Ford.  Lee designed the Cowan’s Ford Dam that created Lake Norman.

Carl Blades was given the assignment to buy up the land that the lake would soon flood. He was the perfect man for the job because he was sensitive and decent with a feel for history and empathy for his neighbors. He took a picture of Cowan’s Ford when it was a ford, a wide place in the river. In dry weather it was not much more than ankle deep, between low-lying banks that were lined with trees. 

Lake Norman was born in the spring of 1962.  That left only two small free-flowing sections between Lake James and Lake Wateree. Lake Norman has 520 miles of shoreline and is sometimes called the Inland Sea.  Cowan’s Ford Dam holds back 34 miles of waters. The McGuire Nuclear Plant on the south end of the lake cost $1.5 billion by the time is was completed. 

About Alice Battle – Alice lives on Mountain Island Lake has served on numerous groups devoted to protecting the lake, including the Duke Energy Relicensing stakeholders group. She currently is Lakekeeper for the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation.