Huntington District -- HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Huntington District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues to monitor the arrival of water from North Carolina and Virginia as a result of Hurricane Helene.
Bluestone Lake crested at 1493.7 feet on Sunday, (11:15 pm) 29 Sep 2024. The lake will be at an elevated position from its summer pool (1410 feet) for several weeks.
Currently, sluice gates at the base of the dam are flowing 26,090 cubic feet per second (cfs) per the water control plan. The lake elevation is currently at 1493.6 feet and slowly falling. Based on current rainfall conditions we do not anticipate opening the crest gates on top of the dam. Huntington District Dam Safety personnel remain on-site to monitor the performance of the dam through this event.
The concrete dam is 165 feet tall and is nearly a half mile long as it spans the New River valley. Bluestone Dam helps regulate waters coming from a 4600 square-mile basin upstream of the dam. This basin is drained by the New River which starts in North Carolina and crosses southwestern Virginia before coming into West Virginia. Bluestone Dam is located directly upstream of the City of Hinton, Summers County, West Virginia on the New River. The dam is located 1 mile above the confluence of the Greenbrier River with the New River. Continuing downstream, the New River joins the Gauley River and turns into the Kanawha River which empties into the Ohio River at Point Pleasant.
Upstream flash flooding conditions in Western North Carolina and Southwestern Virginia were not impacted by the operation of Bluestone Dam. Bluestone Dam is functioning as designed and continues to reduce flooding to several downstream communities, including Hinton, Thurmond, Kanawha Falls, Montgomery, Cabin Creek, the state capitol of Charleston, St. Albans, Winfield, Buffalo, and Point Pleasant. Bluestone Dam also reduces flood risks to communities along the Ohio River both up and downstream of the confluence with Kanawha River at Point Pleasant. We are continuing to monitor weather conditions and will notify the public of any changes to our current operating schedule.
For more information, please contact the Public Affairs Office at 304-399-5353.
For current lake conditions, please visit:
https://www.lrh-wc.usace.army.mil/wm/?basin/kan/bln
Release no. 24-143