I've been looking at homes in the Douglas Lake area.  The imagery on Google Earth is a few years old: November, 2017.  It seems the Lake's level has dropped substantially (~20 feet).  

What's the story there?  Was the change in level deliberate (man made)?  Is there a drought (natural occurrence)?  

Has the Lake's level recovered since then?  Any history of looding at the Lake?

If man-made, is there a plan?  Will this recur?




P.S. - Can you tell me anything about life in that area?  What's it like?  Good?  Bad?  Trending up?  Trending down?  Would you live there?

Best info you can get is from the Corps of Engineers at either Nashville or at the Head TVA office.  They are the ones with all the lake plans.  Us peons are not told squat.

Douglas along with Cherokee, Norris and Fontana dams are all upper reservoir TVA dams. Being that they are classified as this, they fluctuate greatly during the year. Summer pool is usually reached late April to mid May. They start bringing them down around Labor Day, if not a little before depending on predicted weather patterns.

They help keep the headwaters of the Tennessee River from overwhelming the entire system especially Knoxville and Chattanooga and downstream.

One thing about those dams too is remoteness and road access to certain areas around the lake. Some areas have good access and some have really poor access with long drives and shitty roads.

Thank you all for the information.  I do appreciate it.

"Methbillies", that' a new one to me, though I know they're not a joke.