access to guests. Hydroelectric power High Rock Lake was formed as one of four Yadkin Project hydroelectric dams built by ALCOA for the purpose of producing the electricity needed for the smelting of aluminum during a time when electricity was still scarce in many rural areas of North Carolina. As public utilities developed, the power generated by the project eventually became integrated into the power grid and used to offset the power consumed by the aluminum smelter. The entire Yadkin Project has a total generating capacity of nearly 215 megawatts of electricity when operating at peak capacity. Because High Rock is the most upstream lake in the series, it was used not only to generate power, but also to regulate water levels in the project's lakes downstream. This management policy often resulted in extreme draw-downs during periods of low inflow. The period after World War II saw explosive growth in recreational use of High Rock as the company sold off vast tracts of the land it owned above the lake's high water mark. This set the stage for conflict over the company's management of the lake's water as the new owners often found themselves staring at vast areas of dry lake bed in front of their lake front property during the dry summer months. Eventually, agreements were reached that resulted in more stable summer lake levels. While hydroelectric electricity may produce less green house gas emissions than fossil fuel power plants, the Yadkin Project dams also have a history of environmental impacts, with low dissolved oxygen in the tailraces of multiple dams and water quality violations for turbidity, ph and chlorophyll-a on High Rock Lake. and fish consumption advisories for PCBs on Badin Lake. As of 2020, these problems are being mitigated through the modernizing of turbine equipment to provide for aeration of the water passing through the powerhouse facilities. Drought and environmental impact 2001-2002 drought Record low streamflows caused by unusually dry weather resulted in extremely low water levels at High Rock Lake during the Southeastern United States Drought of 2002. These dry weather patterns began in 1998 and persisted until 2002. The final year of the drought was the worst for the lake. With water levels well below full pond, fish began to die due to overcrowding and a lack of water oxygen content, filling the air with rancid smells. Tourism in the area dropped and residents along