Sunday, Bill and I went for a walk at Falls Lake State Recreation Area. The Lake is 12,000 acres and there are 26,000 acres of woodland.
Falls Lake is a man made reservoir located in the upper part of the neuse river basin. The Dam is just outside of Raleigh, NC and the lake extends 22 miles upstream to the confluence of the Eno, Flat and Little Rivers near Durham, NC.
Congressional authorization for the Lake includes: Water Supply, Water Quality, Flood Damage Reduction, Fish and Wildlife Enhancement, and Recreation. Hydropower was not one of the original intended purposes of the Falls Lake project. However, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) action has been initiated at Falls Lake.
At the Falls Lake project FERC is currently entertaining two separate requests for a preliminary permit to perform investigations and review the feasibility of adding hydropower. We were on the other side of the lake from the Dam but you should be able to make it out in the two shots above.
In looking online for information to add to this post, I found out something I didn't know. Recently, Falls Dam was determined to be at a Level 3, 'Conditionally Unsafe'. While structurally sound, Falls Dam received this rating because of downstream development and the catastrophic consequences should a dam break occur. Even though though the dam is sound, engineers have to look at the "what if" scenario of a potential dam break. There is so much development (housing and commercial) in the flood plain of the Neuse River that if the dam were to break, loss of life and negative economic impacts may occur. This gives the dam its Level 3, 'Conditionally Unsafe' rating.
There are some interim risk reduction measures which the U. S. Army Corp of Engineers has recommended. To visit other part of the world, please go to the home of That's My World Tuesday.
26 comments:
I'm not surprised at the rating. I've been here long enough to remember when "civilization" effectively ended at Sawmill Road (and really, even before then). The development between there and Strickland Rd. since I was in high school is... staggering.
Why people build in a flood plain never ceases to puzzle me. Didn't Crabtree Valley Mall teach them anything?
The dried leaves blanketing the ground is joy ato see. Lucky you for having all this for your enjoyment and pleasure.
I'm back btw.
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What a glorious day .. and photos!
Hmmm. One has to wonder why development would be allowed in an unsafe area.
It's a lovely place to walk.
Lovely fall shots with the leaves littering the path.
I know about living downstream from a dam. We lived in a narrow canyon downstream from a dam for 15 years and always wondered if we would have the ability to get out should the dam fail.
What fun to be able to spend a day there in such a beautiful place! Love the colorful leaves! Very interesting post with marvelous photos as always!
Enjoy your week, Carver!
Sylvia
It does look like a wonderful place to enjoy the day. Great photos.
Lovely shots of your place.
Looks like a beautiful place to explore but maybe mostly upstream
It's beautiful. 12000 acres is a BIG lake.
I have to agree with Stine, however. Why were people allowed to build in an unsafe area? (Rhetorical question)
Beautiful lake and I love the area around it to have a walk--especialy in this type of weather.
Wonderful post with beautiful snaps. 12000 acres of lake is truly huge.
What a lovely area. Interesting post!
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I'm wondering - can bikers use that path or just pedestrian traffic? It looks like a wonderful place to explore water, vegetation, and wildlife. I love your photos, and I really like the size.
It is a huge place to visit and enjoy the day. Very scenic, too. Makes me wonder, too why permit is given to a future "unsafe" area.
Lots of information about this place...hummm, interesting and curious to be sure.
Lovely photos though! Very nice.
A beautiful place and promises more usefullness too.
Dams quite made a stir in our place very lately due damage to crop and residents.
NC certainly has a lot of trees and lakes. The Army Corp of Engineers - didn't they build the levees in New Orleans that failed during Katrina? Beautiful photos.
We don't have dams in my flat country, but I saw several in Australia and Wales. They are impressive and it's therefore a good thing to be prepared that calamities can occur.
Thanks for your visit.
It is easy to forget just how much land we have available in NC. I hope make an effort to conserve more of it! Beautiful photos.
Outstanding, I liked a lot the perspective in this first shot,this place is really wonderful!
Léia
beautiful shots and the blue shy in the background makes them perfect!
I dont know why i felt like these shots are like of lonely beauty...little rustic and yet adorable...
What a lovely recreational area. I love the curved bridge in the third photo especially but would LOVE to walk there myself ;-)
Hugs and blessings,
This looks like a beautiful place. Interesting about the "unsafe" rating because of development. Also interesting that hydropower is belatedly being considered.
that wooden bridge is very nice for a walk viewing the waters
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