Logan Martin Lake
Encyclopedia
Logan Martin Lake is located in east central Alabama
on the Coosa River
approximately 30 miles (48.3 km) east of Birmingham, Alabama
. This 17000 acres (68.8 km²) Coosa River
reservoir
was built in 1965 by Alabama Power Company
. The lake, nicknamed Lake of a Thousand Coves by locals, has 275 miles (442.6 km) of shoreline along its 48.5 miles (78.1 km) length sandwiched between Logan Martin Dam on the south and Neely Henry Dam on the north. The depth of the lake is 35 to 110 feet (33.5 m) with only five feet average water level variance. Lake Logan Martin offers boating, skiing and swimming.
The lake
borders St. Clair
and Talladega
counties. The reservoir
extends 48.5 miles (78.1 km) from Logan Martin Dam upstream to Neely Henry Dam, and it contains 15263 acres (61.8 km²). Logan Martin has roughly 273 miles (439.3 km) of shoreline.
. The Coosa River is the primary inflow for the lake, numerous smaller streams also from into the lake. Prevailing flow is from the north to the south along a meandering course. The Coosa River arises in the Appalachian Mountains
and its waters, and those of Logan Martin Lake, eventually discharge into Mobile Bay
and the Gulf of Mexico
through the Alabama River
and Mobile River
. The Lake is largely a run-of-the-river reservoir through its upper reaches. From the location of Lock 4 to the I-20 bridge, the river expands, but is still largely confined to the original course of the Coosa River
and the immediate mouths of tributary streams rather than spreading over the floodplain like a typical reservoir. From the I-20 bridge in the Riverside area to the Logan Martin Dam (approximately 23 miles), the lake expands to a width much greater than the original river channel, with large areas of open water and many medium to large sized sloughs and creeks. The maximum depth at the dam is 69 feet (21 m).
inhabit the lake, as well as striped bass, white bass, hybrid bass, crappie
, catfish
(mostly of the channel variety), bream, drum
, carp
, and gar
. Fish in Lake Logan Martin are polluted with in some cases substantial amounts of Polychlorinated biphenyl
s (PCBs), originating from Choccolocco Creek, and ultimately Anniston, Alabama
. The pollution culminated with several high profile class action lawsuits in the early 2000s, one of which was led by attorney Johnnie Cochran
.
. An extensive series of locks
allowed passage along shoals and ledges in the river. After steamships were replaced by roads and railroads, the site of proposed Lock 7 was selected for a large dam to provide hydropower, flood control, and recreation. Construction started on the gravity concrete and earth fill dam July 18, 1960 and it was placed in service August 10, 1964. Logan Martin Dam is named after William Logan Martin, Jr., a judge and Attorney General in Alabama in the early 20th century.
General Information
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
on the Coosa River
Coosa River
The Coosa River is a tributary of the Alabama River in the U.S. states of Alabama and Georgia. The river is about long altogether.The Coosa River is one of Alabama's most developed rivers...
approximately 30 miles (48.3 km) east of Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
. This 17000 acres (68.8 km²) Coosa River
Coosa River
The Coosa River is a tributary of the Alabama River in the U.S. states of Alabama and Georgia. The river is about long altogether.The Coosa River is one of Alabama's most developed rivers...
reservoir
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
was built in 1965 by Alabama Power Company
Alabama Power Company
Alabama Power Company, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, is a company in the southern United States that provides electricity service to 1.3 million homes, businesses, and industries in the southern two-thirds of Alabama. It is one of four U.S...
. The lake, nicknamed Lake of a Thousand Coves by locals, has 275 miles (442.6 km) of shoreline along its 48.5 miles (78.1 km) length sandwiched between Logan Martin Dam on the south and Neely Henry Dam on the north. The depth of the lake is 35 to 110 feet (33.5 m) with only five feet average water level variance. Lake Logan Martin offers boating, skiing and swimming.
The lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
borders St. Clair
St. Clair County, Alabama
St. Clair County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama.It is a part of the Birmingham–Hoover–Cullman Combined Statistical Area. Its name is in honor of General Arthur St...
and Talladega
Talladega County, Alabama
Talladega County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Talladega is a Muscogee Native American word derived from TVLVTEKE, which means "border town." As of 2010, the population was 82,291...
counties. The reservoir
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
extends 48.5 miles (78.1 km) from Logan Martin Dam upstream to Neely Henry Dam, and it contains 15263 acres (61.8 km²). Logan Martin has roughly 273 miles (439.3 km) of shoreline.
Hydrology
Logan Martin Lake begins at the discharge of H. Neely Henry Dam near Ohatchee, Alabama (near the site of former Coosa River Lock 3) and extends south to Logan Martin Dam near Vincent, AlabamaVincent, Alabama
Vincent is a town in Shelby, St. Clair, and Talladega Counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. At the 2000 census the population was 1,853.-Geography:Vincent is located at .According to the U.S...
. The Coosa River is the primary inflow for the lake, numerous smaller streams also from into the lake. Prevailing flow is from the north to the south along a meandering course. The Coosa River arises in the Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
and its waters, and those of Logan Martin Lake, eventually discharge into Mobile Bay
Mobile Bay
Mobile Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States. Its mouth is formed by the Fort Morgan Peninsula on the eastern side and Dauphin Island, a barrier island on the western side. The Mobile River and Tensaw River empty into the northern end of the...
and the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
through the Alabama River
Alabama River
The Alabama River, in the U.S. state of Alabama, is formed by the Tallapoosa and Coosa rivers, which unite about north of Montgomery.The river flows west to Selma, then southwest until, about from Mobile, it unites with the Tombigbee, forming the Mobile and Tensaw rivers, which discharge into...
and Mobile River
Mobile River
The Mobile River is located in southern Alabama in the United States. Formed out of the confluence of the Tombigbee and Alabama rivers, the approximately river drains an area of of Alabama, with a watershed extending into Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee. Its drainage basin is the...
. The Lake is largely a run-of-the-river reservoir through its upper reaches. From the location of Lock 4 to the I-20 bridge, the river expands, but is still largely confined to the original course of the Coosa River
Coosa River
The Coosa River is a tributary of the Alabama River in the U.S. states of Alabama and Georgia. The river is about long altogether.The Coosa River is one of Alabama's most developed rivers...
and the immediate mouths of tributary streams rather than spreading over the floodplain like a typical reservoir. From the I-20 bridge in the Riverside area to the Logan Martin Dam (approximately 23 miles), the lake expands to a width much greater than the original river channel, with large areas of open water and many medium to large sized sloughs and creeks. The maximum depth at the dam is 69 feet (21 m).
Geology
Logan Martin Lake is situated in the Northern Piedmont Physiographic Province of Alabama, characterized by generally low ridges at the very southern reach of the Appalachian Mountains. The reservoir lies primarily within the Ordovician Knox Group (OCk).Wildlife
Numerous aquatic species make their home in Logan Martin Lake with game and non-game fish being the dominant interest for human use. Numerous local and national fishing tournaments are held on the lake annually, the lake has also hosted championship events of the FLW Outdoors Tour and the Bassmaster Classic in 1992, 1993, and 1997. Large numbers of both largemouth and spotted bassBass (fish)
Bass is a name shared by many different species of popular gamefish. The term encompasses both freshwater and marine species. All belong to the large order Perciformes, or perch-like fishes, and in fact the word bass comes from Middle English bars, meaning "perch."-Types of basses:*The temperate...
inhabit the lake, as well as striped bass, white bass, hybrid bass, crappie
Crappie
Crappie is a genus of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. The type species is P. annularis, the white crappie...
, catfish
Catfish
Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...
(mostly of the channel variety), bream, drum
Sciaenidae
Sciaenidae is a family of fish commonly called drums, croakers, or hardheads for the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make...
, carp
Carp
Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. The cypriniformes are traditionally grouped with the Characiformes, Siluriformes and Gymnotiformes to create the superorder Ostariophysi, since these groups have certain...
, and gar
Gar
In American English the name gar is strictly applied to members of the Lepisosteidae, a family including seven living species of fish in two genera that inhabit fresh, brackish, and occasionally marine, waters of eastern North America, Central America, and the Caribbean islands.-Etymology:In...
. Fish in Lake Logan Martin are polluted with in some cases substantial amounts of Polychlorinated biphenyl
Polychlorinated biphenyl
Polychlorinated biphenyls are a class of organic compounds with 2 to 10 chlorine atoms attached to biphenyl, which is a molecule composed of two benzene rings. The chemical formula for PCBs is C12H10-xClx...
s (PCBs), originating from Choccolocco Creek, and ultimately Anniston, Alabama
Anniston, Alabama
Anniston is a city in Calhoun County in the state of Alabama, United States.As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 24,276. According to the 2005 U.S. Census estimates, the city had a population of 23,741...
. The pollution culminated with several high profile class action lawsuits in the early 2000s, one of which was led by attorney Johnnie Cochran
Johnnie Cochran
Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. was an American lawyer best known for his leadership role in the defense and criminal acquittal of O. J...
.
History
The Coosa River was long used for steamship navigation as far north as Rome, GeorgiaRome, Georgia
Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Rome is the largest city and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. It is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Floyd County...
. An extensive series of locks
Lock (water transport)
A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
allowed passage along shoals and ledges in the river. After steamships were replaced by roads and railroads, the site of proposed Lock 7 was selected for a large dam to provide hydropower, flood control, and recreation. Construction started on the gravity concrete and earth fill dam July 18, 1960 and it was placed in service August 10, 1964. Logan Martin Dam is named after William Logan Martin, Jr., a judge and Attorney General in Alabama in the early 20th century.
Economy
Logan Martin Lake contributes millions of dollars annually to the communities surrounding the lake in the form of increased property values, expenditures by recreational visitors at local businesses, and low-cost hydropower for the state. Its proximity to the large population center of Birmingham leads to heavy use by recreational boaters during the summer. The vast majority of the boat traffic is between I-20 and Logan Martin Dam, with the traffic increasing in the more open areas surrounding the Logan Martin Dam.External links
Hunting, fishing, OutdoorGeneral Information