Falls Lake is a 12,410 acre (50 km²) reservoir located in Durham, Wake, and Granville counties in North Carolina, USA. Falls Lake extends 28 miles (45 km) up the Neuse River to its source at the confluence of the Eno, Little, and Flat rivers.
The lake is named for the Falls of the Neuse, a section of the Neuse River that falls from the Piedmont into the lower Coastal Plain and which is now submerged under the lake. The lake provides drinking water for several of the surrounding communities, including the city of Raleigh, NC, aids with flood control and serves as a recreation area and wildlife habitat.
The construction of the dam that holds the lake began in 1978 and was completed in 1981. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed and manages the dam. Falls Dam (35°56′30″N 78°34′57″W / 35.94167°N 78.5825°W / 35.94167; -78.5825) is an earthen structure having a top elevation of 291.5 feet (88.8 m) and an overall length of 1,915 feet (584 m).
The height above the streambed is 92.5 feet (28 m).
Famous quotes containing the words falls and/or lake:
“It is said that the British Empire is very large and respectable, and that the United States are a first-rate power. We do not believe that a tide rises and falls behind every man which can float the British Empire like a chip, if he should ever harbor it in his mind.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Like a canoe route across the great lake on whose shore
One is left trapped, grumbling not so much at bad luck as
Because only this one side of experience is ever revealed.
And that meant something.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)