Mountain Island Lake is a lake northwest of

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

created in 1924 to coincide with the building of Mountain Island Hydroelectric Station. It is named after the mountain which appears as an island in the lake, and the surrounding area is identified by the lake's name. The shape of the lake follows the

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...

of the Catawba River's course, dammed near the Mount Holly Wastewater Plant. Full pond elevation is approximately . The lake has around of surface area and of shoreline.

River, water, and lake access

Mountain Island Lake is fed by the Catawba River, and is the smallest of the three man-made lakes that border Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (

Lake Norman Lake Norman is the largest man-made body of fresh water in North Carolina. It was created between 1959 and 1964 as part of the construction of the Cowans Ford Dam by Duke Energy. Geography Lake Norman is fed by the Catawba River, and drains i ...

, and Lake Wylie). Mountain Island Lake is managed by

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

-based company

Duke Energy Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Overview Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Duke Energy owns 58,200 megawatts of base-load and peak generation in ...

. The primary function of Mountain Island Lake is to provide drinking water for over 1 million residents of Charlotte and surrounding Mecklenburg County, as well as Mount Holly and Gastonia in

Gaston County Gaston County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 227,943. The county seat is Gastonia. Dallas served as the original county seat from 1846 until 1911. Gaston County is included in the C ...

. The lake is also accessible to the public for boating and fishing use. There are three boating access areas on the lake and a

tailrace fishing Tailrace fishing is angling immediately below natural or man-made dams or restrictions to the flow of water on rivers, canals, streams or any other flowing current. Fishing in a tailrace requires a distinct set of skills in that lures or bait mu ...

platform for bank fishing in cooperation with the

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is a state government agency created by the North Carolina General Assembly, General Assembly in 1947 to Wildlife management, conserve and sustain North Carolina's fish and wildlife resources through ...

Power generation

The lake generates hydro-electric power for the nearby region. It also supported the

Riverbend Steam Station The Riverbend Steam Station was a former 454- MW coal-fired electrical power plant in Gaston County, North Carolina, owned by Duke Energy. It was originally slated for decommissioning in 2015, but was closed in April 2013. The four-unit station ...

by cooling the steam that drove the turbines prior to its decommissioning in 2013.

Mountain Island Hydro Station

Mountain Island Hydro Station is a four-unit generating facility with a capacity of 60 megawatts located in Gaston County, North Carolina. It was built in 1923 to meet the growing demand for electricity by homeowners in the Carolinas. At the time, electricity was largely used by industrial customers.

Riverbend Steam Station

Riverbend Steam Station was a 454 megawatt, coal-fired generating facility located in Gaston County, North Carolina. It was first built in 1929. The four-unit station was named for a bend in the Catawba River on which it was located. Riverbend was used as a cycling station and was brought on line to supplement supply when electricity demand was highest. Four gas-fired combustion turbine units were also housed on the site. The four gas-fired turbines were retired in October 2012. The power house and stacks were demolished in 2018, with remediation of the

coal ash Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when de ...

ponds ongoing as of mid-2019. Duke Energy claimed that coal ash basins from Riverbend Steam Station has fully been excavated in March 2019.

Water pollution

The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources is planning a consent order for

plants on the lake which have left local

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...

contaminated with high levels of

heavy metals upright=1.2, Crystals of osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">lead.html" ;"title="osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead Heavy metals are generally defined as ...

such as

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, but ...

and

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, pr ...

. The discharge has come from a lack of lining in older coal ash ponds containing namesake waste which threatens the

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

of Mountain Island Lake's

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

and has as of August 2013 warranted over $99,000 worth of fines.Division of Water Quality seeks public comment about consent order for coal-fired facilities
. Mountain Xpress.com (2013-7-16). Retrieved on 2013-08-08.

Attractions

Inside of Mountain Island Lake is a large island called

Mountain Island Mountain Island is a neighborhood of Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Located in the extreme northwestern part of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County and Charlotte, it is an affluent home to many private schools and lak ...

, a big landmark. Other area attractions include the historic

Rural Hill Farm In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

, Historic

Latta Plantation Latta Place (formerly Latta Plantation), also known as Latta House, is a historic house located in Huntersville, North Carolina near Mountain Island Lake. Built in about 1800 in a Federal style, the plantation also contains some elements of G ...

, and the

Carolina Raptor Center Carolina may refer to: Geography * The Carolinas, the U.S. states of North and South Carolina ** North Carolina, a U.S. state ** South Carolina, a U.S. state * Province of Carolina, a British province until 1712 * Carolina, Alabama, a town in ...

Carolina Raptor Center

The Carolina Raptor Center is dedicated to environmental stewardship and the conservation of birds of prey, through education, research, and the rehabilitation of injured and orphan raptors. Over 23 different species of raptors are on a 3/4 mile long nature trail inside Latta Plantation Nature Preserve, on the banks of Mountain Island Lake.

Historic Latta Plantation

The Plantation was built in 1800 and called Latta Place after its owner James Latta, an immigrant from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Latta was a successful

traveling merchant Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical Location (geography), locations. Travel can be done by Pedestrian, foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be ...

through 1820. He then retired and turned his property into a cotton plantation consisting of 742 acres and 34 enslaved people. After Mr. Latta's death in 1837, his wife Jane sold the property to David Harry. In 1853, William Sample purchased the property; it was owned by the Sample family until 1922. Crescent Land and Timber, a subsidiary of Duke Power, then purchased the property because of its proximity to the Catawba River and the construction of the dam. It is now a museum.

References

External links

Mountain Island Lake Marine Commission

Mountain Island Lake at Duke Energy

Mountain Island Lake Water Levels at Duke Energy

Hydro Station

Riverbend Steam Station

Mountain Island Lake Association

Carolina Raptor Center

Historic Latta Plantation
{{authority control Geography of Charlotte, North Carolina Reservoirs in North Carolina Protected areas of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Protected areas of Gaston County, North Carolina Bodies of water of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Bodies of water of Gaston County, North Carolina Catawba River