Kentucky Lake is a major navigable

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

along the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. It was created in 1944 by the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...

's impounding of the Tennessee River via Kentucky Dam for flood control and hydroelectric power. The lake is the largest

artificial lake A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

by surface area in the United States east of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

, with of shoreline. Kentucky Lake has a flood storage capacity of , more than 2.5 times the next largest lake in the TVA system. It provides a source for

hydro-electric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

power. Also, as one of the lakes alluded to by the name of Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area, it is a recreational destination of western

and

Recreation

The lake is a desirable fishing area. Records for the largest of three species of fish ever taken in Kentucky have been set at this lake:

white bass The white bass, silver bass, or sand bass (''Morone chrysops'') is a freshwater fish of the temperate bass family Moronidae. commonly around 12-15 inches long. The species' main color is silver-white to pale green. Its back is dark, with white s ...

(), Buffalo carp (), and

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samu ...

(). It is also the major attraction for two

Kentucky state parks Maintained by the Kentucky Department of Parks, Kentucky's system of 49 state parks has been referred to as "the nation's finest" and experiences more repeat business annually than those of any other U.S. state. The state's diverse geography provid ...

Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park is a Kentucky state park located on the northern shore of Kentucky Lake in Marshall County. The park encompasses and is one of the state's more popular resort parks. The park features a convention center, 1 ...

to the north and

Kenlake State Resort Park Kenlake State Resort Park is a park located on the western shore of Kentucky Lake. The park's main entrance and most of its facilities are located in Marshall County; the park also extends into Calloway County. The mailing address of the park is ...

to the west.

Invasive species

Asian carp are a type of invasive species that have started to accumulate in the waterways throughout Kentucky. They pose a major threat to the environmental stability of the lake because of their competition with native fish species. Bigheaded carp were first reported in Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake in 2002. Their numbers have since increased greatly; they now can be found throughout both lakes and are exhibiting extremely fast growth.

References

External links

Visitor's guide
by Marshall County, Kentucky Tourist Commission
KentuckyLake.com
Kentucky Lake, Lake Barkely & Land Between the Lakes Information
KentuckyLake.TV
Collection of informational videos on Kentucky Lake
LBLGuide.com
Informational site about Kentucky Lake and the Land Between the Lakes area
Kentucky Lake Guide by KFW
{{authority control 1944 establishments in Kentucky 1944 establishments in Tennessee Reservoirs in Kentucky Reservoirs in Tennessee Protected areas of Calloway County, Kentucky Protected areas of Lyon County, Kentucky Protected areas of Trigg County, Kentucky Protected areas of Marshall County, Kentucky Tennessee River Tennessee Valley Authority Protected areas of Benton County, Tennessee Bodies of water of Calloway County, Kentucky Bodies of water of Lyon County, Kentucky Bodies of water of Trigg County, Kentucky Bodies of water of Marshall County, Kentucky Bodies of water of Benton County, Tennessee

Recreation

Invasive species

See also

References

External links