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Kentucky Lake

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This article is about the lake in the United States. For the lake in Canada, see Kentucky Alleyne Provincial Park.
Kentucky Lake
LocationKentucky / Tennessee
Coordinates37°00′45″N 88°16′12″W / 37.01256°N 88.27003°W / 37.01256; -88.27003
Typereservoir
Basin countriesUnited States
Aerial view of Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. Kentucky Lake is on the left. The canal connecting Lake Barkley to Kentucky Lake is visible at left-center.

Kentucky Lake is a major navigable reservoir along the Tennessee River in Kentucky and Tennessee. Created in 1944 by the Tennessee Valley Authority's impounding of the Tennessee River by Kentucky Dam,[1] the 160,309-acre (649 km2) lake is the largest artificial lake by surface area in the United States east of the Mississippi River, with 2,064 miles of shoreline, (though not the largest by volume; Lake Cumberland holds that distinction). Kentucky Lake has a flood storage capacity of 4,008,000 acre-feet, more than 2.5 times of the next largest lake in the TVA system.

It provides a source for hydro-electric power and, as one of the lakes alluded to by the name of Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area, is a recreational magnet in western Kentucky and Tennessee.

Recreation

The lake holds records for the largest of three species of fish ever taken in Kentucky: white bass (5 lb.), Buffalo carp (55 lb.), and yellow perch (1 lb., 4 oz).[2] It is also the major attraction for two Kentucky state parks: Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park to the north and Kenlake State Resort Park to the west.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Kleber, John E., ed. (1992). "Lakes". The Kentucky Encyclopedia. Associate editors: Thomas D. Clark, Lowell H. Harrison, and James C. Klotter. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-1772-0.
  2. ^ "Kentucky State Record Fish List". Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. 2006-04-17. Retrieved 2007-02-17.
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