| Blue Ridge Lake | |
| Location: | Fannin County, Georgia |
| Coords: | 34.8825°N -84.28°W |
| Type: | reservoir, from 1931 |
| Inflow: | Toccoa River |
| Outflow: | Toccoa River |
| Basin Countries: | United States |
| Area: | 3300acres |
| Depth: | 100feet |
| Max-Depth: | 246feet |
| Volume: | 68500acre.ft maximumWeb site: Blue Ridge Dam. |
| Shore: | 65miles |
| Elevation: | 1686feet [1] |
| Pushpin Map: | Georgia (U.S. state)#USA |
| Pushpin Map Alt: | Location of Lake Blue Ridge in Georgia, USA. |
Blue Ridge Lake is a reservoir in Fannin County, in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. The reservoir encompasses 3300acres of water, and a "full summer pool" of approximately 1686feet above mean sea level. It is managed by the Tennessee Valley Authority and is primarily fed by the Toccoa River.
Blue Ridge Lake was created by the completion of Blue Ridge Dam and has approximately 60miles of shoreline and a flood storage capacity of 68500acre.ft. The lake's levels fluctuate by about 20feet in a typical year. Blue Ridge Dam was completed in 1930. It stands high and is wide across the Toccoa river. The dam provides up to 13 megawatts of power via a single generator.
As part of the Blue Ridge Dam Rehabilitation project, the Tennessee Valley Authority, began slowly lowering the elevation of Blue Ridge Lake in July 2010. This rehabilitation project aimed to repair the dam penstock and to stabilize both the upstream and downstream faces of the dam. The project reduced the water level in the lake to approximately above sea level around the middle of October 2010 and the portion of work requiring the drawdown was completed in April 2011 when refilling of the lake began. However, TVA decided to hold the lake level at through the summer of 2012 due to unexpected ground movement experienced in March 2012.