Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir

Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir is a 1,370-acre (550 ha) artificial reservoir in a region on the south-east side of unincorporated Walton County, Georgia, United States, near both Social Circle and Rutledge, about 40 miles (64 km) east of Atlanta. It features a Category I earthen dam constructed primarily for municipal water supply, with a secondary consideration of recreation, on Hard Labor Creek. The dam is approximately 1,950 feet (590 m) long, 460 feet (140 m) wide, and 94 feet (29 m) high, with a spillway crest elevation of 700 feet (210 m) above mean sea level (MSL).[1]

Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir
Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir Show map of Georgia (U.S. state) Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir Show map of the United States
Location	Georgia
Coordinates	33°40′56″N 83°38′03″W
Type	Reservoir Dam/Reservoir Construction: March–April 2015 Reservoir Fills: 2015 - 2018 Reservoir Full Pool: 2018
Primary inflows	On Hard Labor Creek, with pump diversion from the Apalachee River; Reedy Creek
Basin countries	Eastern Continental Divide watershed (Upper Oconee), United States
Surface area	1,370 acres (5.5 km2)
Average depth	82 feet (25 m) at dam
Surface elevation	700 ft (213.4 m) summer 700 ft (213.4 m) winter
Settlements	Social Circle, Georgia; Rutledge, Georgia

First proposed in 1997, built in response to the growing controversy over the Tri-state water dispute, the State of Georgia with its 52 watershed regions drains primarily into either the Gulf of Mexico, or the Atlantic, with the reservoir existing in the Upper Oconee River watershed, which ultimately drains into the latter.[2]

a view of Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir, Walton County, in the State of Georgia, U.S., from a nearby residential cul-de-sac