Information on the physical layout of Lake Anna

Geographical Map of Lake Anna, Virginia

Lake Anna was created for the purpose of providing cooling waters for the Dominion Nuclear Power Plant. To accomplish this, they placed a dam on the North Anna River near where the town of Bumpass is located. After several years, the water backed up approximately 17 miles along the North Anna river to the west and along the Pamunkey Creek, to the north west. Connecting valleys off of the rivers, also backed up and created a number of tributaries that extends the shoreline and lake area of the lake, in addition to the main lake.

The original paths of the North Anna River and Pamunkey Creeks, is considered the main lake, with the deepest waters being along these original paths, and just upstream of the dam. The widest portion of the lake, approximately 1 mile wide, is just upstream of the dam.

To provide the cooling waters for the Power Plant, the lake was separated into a public and private (warm) side. They did this by building dikes across the mouths of 3 tributaries that flow to the south, just above the dam. These creeks, were then connected together by lagoons so that the plant's cooling waters could flow, in turn, from one creek to the 2nd and then the 3rd, where it then flowed back into the public side, sufficiently cooled down. The Power Plant is located approximately 6 miles west of the dam, directly on the main lake. The cooling waters flow from the plant, through each of the creeks, until it flows back into the main lake, just above the dam.

The main lake runs from the dam, up lake approximately 10 miles to the confluence of the North Anna River and the Pamunkey Creek. Where the North Anna River and the Pamunkey creek separate, is referred to as the "splits".

There are 5 bridges that cross the lake. The primary one is the main bridge for route 208 that crosses the lake approximatly mid-way, 8 miles above the dam. 2 others cross the Pamunkey Creek and 2 cross the Upper North Anna River. The lake is totally free of bridges, from the main bridge, east to the dam. Traveling west, once under the main bridge, the lake is free of bridges until approximately 1 mile after the splits, up both the Pamunkey Creek and Upper North Anna Rivers.

At the splits, to the right on Pamunkey Creek, is the Lake Anna State Park. Entrance to the park, is off of Route 601 on the parks north side.