Lake of the Ozarks is a reservoir created by impounding the Osage River in the northern part of the Ozarks in central Missouri. Parts of three smaller tributaries to the Osage are included in the impoundment: the Niangua River, Grandglaize Creek, and Gravois Creek. The lake has a surface area of and of shoreline. The main channel of the Osage Arm stretches from one end to the other. The total drainage area is over . The lake's serpentine shape has earned it the nickname "the Missouri Dragon", which has, in turn, inspired the names of local institutions such as the Magic Dragon Street Meet.
History
A hydroelectric power plant on the Osage River was first pursued by Kansas City developer Ralph Street in 1912. He put together the initial funding and began building roads, railroads, and infrastructure necessary to begin construction of a dam, with a plan to impound a much smaller lake. In the mid-1920s, Street's funding dried up, and he abandoned the effort.
The lake was created by the construction of the 2,543-foot-long (775 m) Bagnell Dam by the Union Electric Company of St. Louis, Missouri. The principal engineering firm was Stone and Webster. Construction began August 8, 1929, and was completed in April 1931; the lake reached spillway elevation on May 20, 1931. Looking closely, the map of the lake is shaped somewhat like a dragon.
During construction, the lake was referred to as Osage Reservoir or Lake Osage. The Missouri General Assembly officially named it Lake Benton after Senator Thomas Hart Benton. None of the names stuck, as it was popularly referred to by its location at the northern edge of the Ozarks. The electric generating station, however, is still referred to by the utility company as the Osage Hydroelectric Plant.
While some sources indicate that more than 20 towns, villages, and settlements were permanently flooded to create the lake, the actual number was closer to eight. Several other settlements had been previously abandoned, were relocated to make way for the lake, or were on high enough ground that the creation of the lake did not affect them.
At the time of construction, Lake of the Ozarks was the largest man-made lake in the United States and one of the largest in the world. It was created to provide hydroelectric power for customers of Union Electric, but it quickly became a significant tourist destination. Most of its shoreline is privately owned, unlike many flood-control lakes in the region that were constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The relatively stable surface elevation has created conditions suitable for private development within a few feet of the shoreline. Over 70,000 homes are along the lake, many of which are vacation homes. The lake is now a major resort area, and more than 5 million people visit annually.
In 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) renewed the lease for the power plant operated by Ameren Missouri. In the process, the FERC determined that numerous homes and structures were encroaching on utility land in violation of federal regulations. According to the Boston Globe, this issue "has triggered panic in the area's lakefront communities and led to a growing battle among regulators, a utility company, land attorneys, and the state's congressional delegation."
In 2015, FERC issued an order allowing Ameren Missouri to pursue permits for about 215 structures that were termed as "nonconforming". Those were the structures remaining in limbo after Ameren was given approval to redraw the project lines encompassing Lake of the Ozarks.
Recently, the lake has been impacted by several extreme weather events. In 2019, the lake was hit by the floods. In 2021, the lake froze over during a cold wave, the first time the lake had frozen over in 20 years, according to Ameren Missouri. In 2022, the lake levels were low due to a drought.
Geography
The Lake of the Ozarks is located within the Ozark Mountains, with Bagnell Dam lying at an elevation of above sea level. It lies in central Missouri on the Salem Plateau of the Ozarks. The lake extends across four Missouri counties, from Benton County in the west through Camden and Morgan Counties to Miller County in the east.