Tims Ford Lake facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Tims Ford Lake |
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Tims Ford Lake near Winchester
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 Tims Ford Lake
Location in Tennessee
Tims Ford Lake
Location in the United States
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| Location | Franklin / Moore counties, Tennessee, United States |
| Coordinates | 35°11′49″N 086°16′43″W / 35.19694°N 86.27861°W |
| Type | reservoir |
| Primary inflows | Elk River |
| Primary outflows | Elk River |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | 10,700 acres (43 km2) |
Tims Ford Lake is a large reservoir located in southern middle Tennessee. It is managed by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), a special agency of the United States government.
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Tims Ford Lake: A Tennessee Treasure
Tims Ford Lake is a beautiful and important part of Tennessee. It's not a natural lake, but a man-made one. It was created to help control floods, produce electricity, and provide a place for people to have fun.
What is Tims Ford Lake?
A reservoir is like a giant storage tank for water. Tims Ford Lake was formed by building a dam across the Elk River. This dam holds back the river's water, creating the large lake we see today.
Building the Dam: A Big Project
The Tims Ford Dam was built by the TVA between 1966 and 1970. The TVA is an agency that was started in 1933 during a time called the New Deal. Its main goal was to help the Tennessee Valley region. This included building many dams to control rivers, create electricity, and improve life for people living there.
The Tims Ford Dam is very impressive. It stands 175 feet (about 53 meters) high. It is also 1580 feet (about 482 meters) long across its top. Building such a large structure took a lot of planning and hard work.
Power from Water: Hydroelectricity
One of the main reasons the dam was built was to make electricity. The dam uses the power of the flowing water to create energy. This is called hydroelectric power. Tims Ford Dam can produce an average of 36 megawatts of electricity. This power helps light up homes and businesses in the area.
Managing Water Levels
The lake also helps prevent floods. It has a special storage space for floodwater, which can hold 219,600 acre-feet of water. An acre-foot is the amount of water needed to cover one acre of land to a depth of one foot.
The water level in Tims Ford Lake changes throughout the year. In a normal year, the water level can go up or down by about 15 feet (about 4.5 meters). This change helps the TVA manage water for electricity, flood control, and recreation.
