| B. Everett Jordan Lake | |
|---|---|
| Location | Chatham / Durham counties, North Carolina, USA |
| Lake type | Reservoir |
| Primary inflows | Haw River, New Hope Creek, Morgan Creek, and Little Creek |
| Primary outflows | Haw River |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | 13,940 acres (56.4 km2) 31,800 acres (129 km2) flood control pool[1] |
| Average depth | 14 feet (4.3 m)[1] |
| Max. depth | 38 feet (12 m)[1] |
| Shore length1 | 180 mi (290 km)[1] |
| Surface elevation | 216 ft (66 m) [1] |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
B. Everett Jordan Lake is a reservoir located west of Raleigh and south of Durham in Chatham County, North Carolina, in the United States of America. The northernmost end of the lake actually reaches into southwestern Durham County. The reservoir was developed at an original cost of US $146,300,000 and is managed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, which dammed and flooded the Haw River and New Hope River between 1973 and 1983 as part of a flood control project prompted by a particularly damaging tropical storm that hit the region downstream in September 1945. Originally authorized in 1963 as the New Hope Lake Project, the reservoir was renamed in 1974 in memory of B. Everett Jordan, former North Carolina Senator. The reservoir covers 13,940 acres (5,640 ha) with a shoreline of 180 miles (290 km) at its standard water level of 216 feet (66 m) above sea level. The reservoir is part of the Jordan Lake State Recreation Area.
During the construction of the reservoir, much of the area was permanently changed. Many farming families were relocated as the project was developed and several roads in eastern Chatham County were either rerouted or taken out of commission completely. Some of the roads were never demolished, but simply allowed to flood over. When the lake is at low water volume, many of these roads can still be seen and some have even been utilized for makeshift boat ramps.
Contents |
Completed in 1974, the Jordan Lake Dam (also known as the B. Everett Jordan Project and the New Hope Dam) is located at 4 miles (6 km) upstream from the mouth of the Haw River in the upper Cape Fear River drainage basin. The dam is 1,330 feet (405 m) in length and has a top elevation of 266.5 feet (81 m) above mean sea level.
In 2008, Thomas Colson, a private citizen, engaged the community surrounding Jordan Lake in awareness of a massive litter problem in the lake. Early estimates put the number of discarded tires in the lake in the thousands, with approximately 40 acre feet (49,000 m3) of trash choking the sensitive aquatic habitats along the shoreline, much of which is the nesting habitat for many Bald Eagles that inhabit the lake property. Following extensive media coverage[2] of the litter issue, Colson organized a volunteer clean up in late 2008[3] and followed up with the formation of Clean Jordan Lake,[4] a North Carolina non-profit corporation with the assistance of Fran DiGiano, a retired professor of the Dept. of Environmental Sciences & Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Early in 2010 Clean Jordan Lake hosted its first clean up with the assistance of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, hauling out an unprecedented volume of litter and tires in a few short hours.[5][6] The event was attended by many dignitaries from both the Corps and North Carolina State Government.
The problem of litter and storm water debris within the lake remains today and poses a serious threat to the drinking water supply of area communities. On September 14, 2010, over 150 GlaxoSmithKline employees volunteered their time to pull approximately four large dumpsters of trash from the lake in less than four hours. The amount of litter surrounding the Jordan Lake Shoreline remains a threat to the riparian buffer which helps maintain water quality, a problem recognized by the numerous agencies tasked with the management of the lake and its surrounding land. Through the corporate sponsorship of organizations like GlaxoSmithKline and local, state, and federal agencies, Jordan Lake is well on the way to becoming a focal point for stakeholders interested in improving water quality in the State of North Carolina. Alcohol is strictly prohibited.