Lake Norman
Part of Lake Norman State Park
Lake Norman was created in 1959-1964 as part of the construction of the dam Cowans Ford Dam by the energy provider Duke Power and is the largest man-made lake in the state of North Carolina in the United States of America. The lake is fed by the Catawba River and was named after the former President of Duke Power Norman Cocke. The coastline is 867 km long, the surface of more than 80 km ².
Lake Norman provides the Piedmont region of the Carolinas, North and South Carolina with electricity. The hydroelectric plants and pumping stations in Cowans Ford supply the power stations Marshall Steam Station and McGuire Nuclear Station with cooling water to cool their turbines. The lake fed Lincoln County, Mooresville, Charlotte and other communities in Mecklenburg County, for example, Davidson and Huntersville with drinking water.
Together with the State of North Carolina taught Duke Power on the shore of the lake the Lake Norman State Park a, and two fishing areas and eight piers for the boats on the lake shore were created. The one side of the river is managed by Mecklenburg County and the other side of Iredell County, who leased the fields. Popular fish species for sport fishing on the lake are mainly catfish and perch-likes. In Lake Norman is also the sea monster " normalization " with many reported sightings live.
The lake is for the economy of the region is of great importance, many communities around the lake have tourist resorts and residential complexes built on the banks, which attract many people. Many originally agricultural areas were converted into residential areas, Charlotte's suburban zone extends to the southern end of the lake. In addition, the lake is one of the venues for the speedboat race in the International Jet Sport Boats Association ( IJSBA ). One of the co-responsible for the annual organization racing team based in Mooresville.
In November 2007, suffered from the catchment area of the Catawba River as large parts of the Southern States under an extreme drought with far-reaching consequences for the health of the main tributary of the lake.