History of Summersville Dam
By, Katherine Gleasman

Summersville Dam, located just of Rt. 19, in Nicholas County, West Virginia, is the second largest rock fill dam in the Eastern United States. Since the dam’s dedication by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966, millions of local residents and visitors have enjoyed the largest lake in West Virginia as well as the surrounding wildlife management lands. Visitors continue to be awed by the clarity of the lake and the surrounding majestic sandstone cliffs. Over 2,700 surface acres of water and 60 miles of shoreline provide a large assortment of outdoor activities. The Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Natural resources provide visitors with access to modern campgrounds, scuba diving, hiking, climbing, rappelling, bouldering, boating, mountain biking, and swimming.

Construction of the dam began in February 1960 and work was completed in May of 1966. Western Construction of Sioux City, Iowa built the rock fill dam with clay center for the Army Corps of Engineers at a cost of $48,075,800. The Army Corps’ desire was to build a dam that would: reduce flood damage, augment low water flow, provide recreation, and enable fish and wildlife management.

Traditionally, the dam is usually named after the closest town. In this case, however, the town of Gad was closest and purposefully flooded for construction. Local residents were averse to naming the dam “Gad dam” and instead opted to name the dam after the town of Summersville. On September 3, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson presided over the dedication of the dam. He spoke briefly of his gratefulness and appreciation of those government officials in attendance. He stated the dam’s completion was made possible by Senator Randolph, Chairman of the Committee on Public Works and Senator Byrd, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Also in attendance were: West Virginia Governor Hulett Smith; Secretary of State, Bob Bailey; the Governor of Delaware, Charles Terry; and numerous District Representatives including, Harley Staggers, Arch Moore, Jr., Ken Hechler, and James Kee.

President Johnson remarked the dam completed a three reservoir system of the Kanawha River Basin and “In a sense, the whole story of man is revealed in his search for dependable water supplies. Where there has been too little, wars have been fought over what there was. Where there has been too much, great cities and flourishing agricultures have been engulfed and destroyed. Where there was enough--and where people could depend upon it and where the people could control it--civilization has blossomed and has endured.”

In March of 1966, seven months after the dedication, winter storms threatened the dam. However, the dam’s effectiveness was proven as 360 feet of water were held back and only two feet of water ran through the spillway at Battle Run. Possible destruction was also diverted by the dam during the floods of July, 2001. Through 2002, the Corps of Engineers estimated the prevention of flood damage has saved over $407,400,000. Resevoir releases are maintained by a minimum release of 100 cubic feet per second and a maximum of 18,000 cubic feet per second along with a flood pool. The dam has a base thickness of 1400 feet and a top elevation of 1,738 feet. Water levels and the flood pool reservoir fluctuate during the winter and summer months. Summer offers the greatest availability of 1,652 lake feet, 13.7 miles of shoreline, 2,790 surface acres of water.