Sardis Lake (Mississippi)

For the lake of the same name in Oklahoma, see Sardis Lake (Oklahoma).

Sardis Lake
File:Sardis Lake.JPG Sardis Lake from Sardis Dam
Location	Lafayette / Panola / Marshall counties, Mississippi, US
Coordinates
Type	reservoir
Primary inflows	Little Tallahatchie River
Primary outflows	Little Tallahatchie River
Basin countries	United States
Surface area	98,520 acres (398.7 km2)
Water volume	1,512,000 acre-feet (1.865×109 m3)

File:Sardis Lake MS from airplane.jpg

Aerial view of Sardis Lake

Sardis Lake is a 98,520-acre (398.7 km²) reservoir on the Little Tallahatchie River in Lafayette, Panola, and Marshall counties, Mississippi. Sardis Lake is impounded by Sardis Dam, located nine miles (14 km) southeast of the town of Sardis. It is approximately an hour's drive from Memphis, Tennessee. The dam is 15,300 feet (4,700 m) long, with an average height of 97 feet (30 m), and a maximum height of 117 feet (36 m).

History

Sardis Dam was the first of the Yazoo River headwaters projects to be built by the federal government for flood control. Authorization for the project came when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Flood Control Act of 1936. Construction took four years and required thousands of men to clear fourteen miles (23 km) along the Little Tallahatchie River, which was characterized by dense woods and undergrowth and meandering sloughs.

The dam was constructed using a "hydraulic fill" technique that required soil to be dredged from below the dam site and pumped to form the earth fill, which forms the majority of the dam. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built and operated the "Pontotoc", a special dredge powered by two 3,000 hp (2,200 kW) electric motors, to accomplish this task. The 425-acre (1.72 km²) "Lower Lake" on the downstream side of Sardis Dam was created by the dredging operation. It has numerous recreation facilities, including John W. Kyle State Park. Mississippi Highway 315 splits while crossing the dam, with one route crossing the top and the other crossing the base.

Sardis Lake has a maximum storage capacity of 1,512,000 acre-feet (1.865×10⁹ m³) of water. The lake is gradually drawn down during the fall and winter months to a "conservation pool" of 9,800 acres (40 km²). This permits spring rains across the lake's 1,545 square miles (4,000 km²) watershed to fill the reservoir without flooding downstream. Since the dam became operational, the dam's emergency spillway has been overtopped only three times by high water - in 1973, 1983 and 1991. The lake's typical "recreation pool" is 32,500 acres (132 km²).

The lake is popular with anglers and has a reputation for abundant bass and crappie. Other recreation activities include hunting, camping, boating, skiing, swimming and picnicking.

Marina

The Sardis Lake Marina services the lake with access to fuel docks, 140 wet slips (both covered and uncovered), a restaurant, and a ship store. They offer rental boats as well as rental skis, tubes, and knee/wake boards.

Restaurant

Inside the Marina is the Black Jack Bar & Grill. The grill prepares made-to-order entrees, but it is known for their Black Jack Burger.