History of the Dam

Wolf Creek Dam is a dam on the Cumberland River of earth filling and concrete. It was created to control flooding, generate hydroelectricity, and create Lake Cumberland, the 7th largest reservoir in the United States.

Wolf Creek Dam began construction in 1941 as a flood control dam after the passing of the Flood Control Act (1938). During its construction, the Rivers and Harbor Act (1946) added plans for hydroelectric capabilities. Construction of the dam itself was completed in 1950, hydroelectric units were added during 1951-1952. The dam is operated and maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Wolf Creek Dam is known as the “most monitored dam in the world.” The dam has historically had issues with seepage due to its Limestone Karst foundation. The limestone erodes and leaves holes in the ground which grow bigger with erosion. An emergency operation of grouting the openings was employed in 1968, saving the dam. Since then, multiple barrier walls have been constructed along the dam. During one of these barrier wall projects in 2014, before the water was raised, Lake Cumberland was at its lowest recorded level after its construction. Since then, the Kentucky Government has started a project currently in progress to reroute US 127 off of the dam, to decrease stress.

Wolf Creek Dam Statistics

The dam is 258 feet tall, with its tip being 773 ft ASL. It’s made up of about 1 million cubic yards of concrete and 10 million cubic yards of earthfill. Its hydroelectric facility contains 6 turbines that generate an average of about 800,000,000 kilowatt hours every year, which is about enough energy to satisfy ~180,000 Americans. Lake Cumberland, which Wolf Creek Dam created, is longer than the distance between Russell Springs and Somerset. Lake Cumberland holds enough water that flooding of Nashville, a city 275 miles downstream, is a big risk factor if the dam were ever to break.

Wolf Creek Fish Hatchery and Kendall Recreation Area

The Wolf Creek Fish Hatchery was established in 1975 in order to populate brown, brook, cutthroat, and rainbow trout in the part of Cumberland River downstream of the dam. The trout are released into a creek that leads from the hatchery to the river. The creek, formally a steep and erosive creek, was restored with trout in mind, including wetlands, a gentler slope, clear water, and rock formations like riffles and step pool at the mouth of the creek. The hatchery is run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The hatchery is a part of the larger Kendall Recreation Area, run by the USACE. It provides an area for various activities including hiking, fishing, camping, kayaking, and wildlife observation. The area is quite riparian, with various accumulations of water not in Hatchery Creek. This is likely due to both rain runoff and controlled seepage from the earth fill section of the dam. When visited in January 2023, a part of the gravel road had been eroded due to a mudslide. The road was repaired on an April 2024 visit. Due to the high amount of water, a large part of the area is a restricted marshland.