Belews Lake
| Belews Lake | |
|---|---|
| Location | Stokes / Rockingham / Guilford / Forsyth counties, North Carolina, United States |
| Coordinates | 36°17′56″N 80°02′15″W / 36.2990°N 80.0375°W |
| Type | reservoir |
| Primary inflows | Belews Creek |
| Primary outflows | Belews Creek |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 5.15 miles (8.29 km) |
| Max. width | 0.96 miles (1.54 km) |
| Surface area | 3,864-acre (16 km2) |
| Surface elevation | 722 feet (220 m) |
| Islands | numerous islets |
Belews Lake is a reservoir in Stokes, Rockingham, Guilford and Forsyth counties of North Carolina, near the towns of Stokesdale and Pine Hall. It was created in 1973 by the Duke Energy corporation as a cooling basin for the corporation's Belews Creek Steam Station, a coal-burning power plant.
There are four public boat ramps on the lake, with two being commissioned by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC). Piney Bluff is located on the southern part of the lake, in Forsyth County, with entrance on NC Highway 65. Pine Hall Boat Launch is the closest to the plant, located in Stokes County, with the ramp being located on the west-northwest part of the lake, with entrance from Pine Hall Rd. Carolina Marina is located in the northern part of the lake, in Rockingham County, with a fee for use. Humphreys Ridge has a boat ramp located on the eastern side of the lake, in Rockingham County. Additionally, a new park is being built on the southern part of the lake in Forsyth County. Forsyth County purchased over 200 acres from Duke Energy to build this park. The new park opened in Spring 2025 and is still in the first phase of construction. There will be playgrounds, walking trails, and a fishing dock, but no public boat ramp is going to be installed due to the close proximity to Piney Bluff boat access.
The power plant was created in the early 1970’s for Duke Energy, so the lake was dig and opened in 1973. Cooling water was pumped back and forth between the plant and reservoir until 1986 when the corporation decided to use other methods to dispose of their coal ash waste. From 1974-1986, contaminants such as vanadium, nickel, cobalt, barium, and arsenic were introduced into the lake through the release of contaminated cooling water from the power plant back into the lake. Many scientific studies were undertaken at Belews Lake and their findings, along with those conducted at the Kesterson Reservoir, are fundamental to today's understanding of the ecological risks associated with elevated selenium concentrations in aquatic systems.