NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — It was 57 years ago this month that President Lyndon B. Johnson dedicated J. Percy Priest Dam with four purposes in mind: flood mitigation, electrical power generation, water supply, and recreation.

That last one, recreation, is one of the biggest for Nashville and Middle Tennessee.

Since 1968, Percy Priest Lake has been one of the most popular lakes in Tennessee, with tens of thousands of visitors per year. Of course, boating and fishing are some of the most popular activities, along with camping at its three overnight camping areas. But regular day use is one of the most popular family pastimes.

"We have four total day-use areas where kids and families can come and enjoy just the day, and two of those areas have designated swim beaches for people to go and enjoy that are marked off with swim lines," explained Dylon Anderson, Percy Priest Lake Resource Manager for the USACE.

Electrical power generation is also a function of the dam, and the USACE gave News 2 a guided tour.

"This is our generator here at J. Percy Priest," Chris Campbell, J. Percy Priest Dam Maintenance Supervisor for the USACE, said as he gestured to the machine to the right. "It's a 30-megawatt generator. A typical Nashville home uses about 1,400 kilowatt hours per month. This generates 30,000 kilowatt hours per hour when it's online generating. Last year we produced enough power to provide power to 3,200 homes for a full year."

In times of heavy rain, flood mitigation is an important function of the dam.

"Before the event actually gets here, we'll try to release as much water from our storage projects as possible to gain that storage that we need so that during the event, we can cut off flow and store those flood waters," explained Austin Auld, a hydraulic engineer for the USACE. "Once downstream waters recede, we can slowly start to release from this project and start to recover our flood storage."

One phenomenon that catches the eyes of some people driving down Interstate 40 is the "cone valve" that shoots water out horizontally from the side of the dam.

"So in the summertime, we are not able to generate because the dissolved oxygen level is too low," Auld said. "Fish downstream will not have enough dissolved oxygen, and there will be fish kills. To mitigate that during the summer, we added this cone valve that releases about 130 cubic feet [of water] per second. That's enough water to keep temperatures cold, as well as keeping that dissolved oxygen for the downwater access.

While the dam has multiple purposes, to most of us, it has created a great place for recreation. For information on day use areas and campgrounds along Percy Priest Lake, follow this link. For information on marinas, parks, boat ramps and other facilities on the lake, follow this link.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/on-tour-middle-tn/j-percy-priest-dam/