Deep Creek Dam

The Deep Creek Dam located about 8 miles north of Oakland, Maryland, consists of an earth and rockwall dam across a tributary of the Youghiogheny River that was completed in 1925 by the Pennsylvania Electric Company. Construction of the dam created the Deep Creek Lake. The twin water turbine 20 MW hydroelectric plant, acquired by Brookfield Renewable Power, Inc., in 2005, became operational in 1928. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission licensed the dam and hydroelectric plant in 1968, but released the licensing to Maryland effective 1994. Under a 1994 agreement with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the dam is operated to control waterflows to maintain the river temperature and dissolved oxygen levels to assist downstream fisheries with the intent of increasing the number of trout as well as to enable recreational whitewater activities (kayaking, canoeing, and commercial rafting) on the Upper Youghiogheny River into which the dam releases. The Maryland Department of the Environment water appropriations permit under which the dam operates, which is renewable, will expire on January 1, 2018.