News

Damage to Lake Summit dam reduces recreation, poses risks

Every day is a no-wake day on Lake Summit because high lake levels often submerge boat docks and yards. The no-wake rule is good for paddlers and aquatic life, not so good for jet skiers and motorboats.

By Amy McCraw, Published: August 21, 2025

Not much has changed on Lake Summit nearly a year after Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina.

Water continues to pour freely over the inoperable and aging dam on the lake. And while the Scottsdale, Ariz., company that owns the Tuxedo Hydroelectric Project and state inspectors say the dam is structurally sound, a fix for the broken power plant that controls the dam remains uncertain.

A no-wake zone, required because water levels on the lake remain too high, continues — to the delight of some, who have enjoyed the quiet on the lake, and the chagrin of others, who miss riding their jet skis and motorboats.

High water submerges boat docks

For many property owners on the lake, high water spilling over docks and into boathouses has created ongoing problems.

“It’s caused serious problems. There’s a residual loss to people down here,” the owner of one boathouse said recently.

The resident, who did not give his name, said high water on the lake cost him the use of his property. On most days, the lake covers the small dock outside his boathouse and decking inside remains underwater at all times. Minnows were swimming inside the boathouse one recent August day.  

When it hit the mountains last Sept. 27, Helene caused severe damage to the hydroelectric project on Green River, which includes the 105-year-old dam and a penstock (pipe system) which carries water to a powerhouse.

Damage to both the powerhouse and pipe system left Northbrook Power Management, the Arizona company that owns the hydroelectric project, unable to use the dam to manipulate either the natural lake levels upstream of the dam or the natural water flows downstream.

Water from the 290-acre lake, which remains 3 feet higher than normal, continues to flow over the dam.

High water levels on the lake pose a risk to areas upstream along Green River and to parts of N.C. 225 near the lake, Green River Fire and Rescue Chief Dustin Nicholson said.

During Helene, water from the lake backed up into Green River and caused flooding upstream.

The lake backup during the storm also closed N.C. 225 for a time and led to first responders evacuating two people from a home near the road.

Nicholson said he fears that another tropical storm moving through the community this summer could cause similar problems.

“When that is 3 feet higher than normal, it backs up water into the Green River watershed basin. Spots on Green River Road flood out where they don’t normally,” he said. “I just pray we don’t get a storm.”

Northbrook engineers to assess dam

Northbrook, in a March statement, said it hired an engineering firm to assist the company in continuing to assess and evaluate damage at the power plant.

In the statement, Northbrook said it had engaged the engineering firm Kleinschmidt Associates to assist in assessing and evaluating the hydroelectric plant.

Kleinschmidt studied the hurricane’s impact on both the infrastructure and water conveyance of the project.

“Building on these evaluations, Northbrook Tuxedo is proceeding to the next phase of its recovery plan: conducting hydrology and flow release analysis. This analysis will be essential in assessing and guiding water flow management from the Lake Summit Dam,” Northbrook said. “The goal is to evaluate the discharge needs that benefit both Lake Summit’s water levels and downstream recreational water users.”

The company’s statement also described the dam as structurally secure.

“Northbrook Tuxedo remains committed to working with engineers, insurance adjustors and other experts to thoroughly assess the situation and proceed with repairs or modifications that could make sense,” according to the statement. “Additionally, the company continues to explore potential funding sources and partnerships for long-term solutions.”

Dam in ‘fair’ condition

Christopher Todd, Henderson County’s assistant county manager, said county officials reached out to Northbrook officials about the possibility of seeking state and federal funding through the county’s soil and water conservation district, “as we would with other private entities as well.”

“The county has a history of working with Soil and Water,” he said. “Much of what Soil and Water does is on behalf of private dam owners There is a history of that, but it takes involved private property owners. We’ve reached out and told them we are willing to partner with them.”

The county had a “pretty good” conversation with company officials about the prospect of working together to seek funding to repair the dam, Todd added.

He said the county wants to find the right opportunities to fix the dam and remains on the lookout for state and federal grants that might be available.

Todd said he thinks Northbrook and the state have taken a look at the dam.

“We have not heard anything from the company or the state that would warrant action based on safety,” he said.

Attempts to reach Northbrook for further comment were unsuccessful.

A map of dams in North Carolina on the state’s Department of Environmental Quality website rates the Tuxedo Hydroelectric dam as fair condition.

Dams in fair condition show no existing dam safety deficiencies for normal operating conditions, according to a FEMA website. The website also noted that a fair designation “means that rare or extreme hydrologic and/or seismic events may result in a dam safety deficiency.”

The map also shows the dam’s hazard potential as high.

The high hazard designation “includes dams located where failure will likely cause loss of life or serious damage to homes, industrial and commercial buildings, important public utilities, primary highways, or major railroads,” according to the DEQ’s website.

State inspectors have checked dam

State Sen. Tim Moffitt said inspectors from DEQ have evaluated the Lake Summit dam along with other dams located in areas hit hard by Helene.

“They have checked all dams in Helene affected areas,” he said. “That is not one they are concerned about at all.”

In 1920, The Blue Ridge Power and Light Company began building the dam on the Green River in the Zirconia community that eventually formed Lake Summit, which extends into the Tuxedo community. The operations center for the power plant was established at Pot Shoals located in the Macedonia community of Henderson County, according to the local Henderson Heritage website.
In 1927, the Blue Ridge Power and Light Company sold the power plant to the Duke Power Company, according to Henderson Heritage, the county history website maintained by Jennie Jones Giles.
Duke Energy sold the plant at Pot Shoals and four other small hydroelectric plants in Western North Carolina to Northbrook in 2019. Duke at the time agreed to purchase all of the energy generated by the power plants for five years through power purchase agreements with Northbrook, Duke Energy said at the time in a news release.
Northbrook operates 26 hydroelectric power plants in 12 states and has served the industry for more than 30 years.

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For more information about the history of the power plant on Green River and the Lake Summit dam, visit www.hendersonheritage.com.