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Lake Norman Facts
- Lake
Norman is North Carolina's largest manmade lake, with
a surface area of 32,510 acres.
- Lake
Norman was created in the early 1960's when the Duke
Power Company dammed the Catawba River to generate
hydroelectric power.
- James
B. Duke's association began purchasing land for Lake
Norman in 1901.
- The
lake is approximately 760 feet above mean sea level.
- Lake
levels fluctuate on a daily and seasonally level to
accommodate electricity generation.
- Both
the McGuire Nuclear Station and Cowans Ford Hydroelectric
Station are located on the shores of Lake Norman.
Steam vents from energy production on the lake produce
"hot spots" in the lake.
- Lake
Norman boasts more than 520 miles of coastline. That's
more coastline than North Carolina and South Carolina
combined!
- The
lake was named for Norman Atwater Cocke, a retired
president of Duke Power.
- Lake
Norman stretches 34 miles from Cowans Ford Dam on
the southern end to the tailrace of Lookout Lake at
the northern end. (Note: Loch Ness in Scotland only
stretches for 27 miles!)
- Lake
Norman's deepest points are over 100 feet deep. The
average depth is about 33 feet.
- Approximately
3,200,000,000 gallons of water fill Lake Norman, weighing
approximately 13,600,000 tons.
- Four
counties border Lake Norman: Mecklenburg; Catawba;
Lincoln; and Iredell.
-
In the late 1990's, a species of freshwater jellyfish
found in the lake baffled scientists. The species
was not known to exist in either Lake Norman or the
Catawba River.
- Late
in 2000, reports of alligators in Lake Norman began to surface.
Later that year, video of a 5-6' alligator in Lake
Norman was released to the local news. Two different
alligators were spotted in the lake. No one was able
to explain where the creatures came from or how they
were surviving in Lake Norman. The alligators were
"removed" by wildlife control officers.
- The
following fish can be found in Lake Norman and the
Catawba River:
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