Holcombe Flowage
| Company type | Hydro power station |
|---|---|
| Industry | Energy |
| Founded | 1950 |
| Headquarters | Holcombe, Wisconsin , United States |
| Products | Hydroelectric power |
| Owner | Xcel Energy |
| Parent | Xcel Energy |
Holcombe Flowage is a man-made lake situated on the Chippewa River within the boundaries of Chippewa County and Rusk County, Wisconsin. The dam that forms this reservoir is positioned between the communities of Birch Creek and Lake Holcombe, just to the west of Holcombe, Wisconsin, where the majority of the water body lies. A minor segment of the flowage extends northward into the Town of Willard in Rusk County.
This reservoir serves as a favored destination for recreational activities, with residential homes and vacation cottages lining its shores. It spans an area of , has an average depth measuring , reaches a maximum depth of , and holds a volume slightly less than .
Holcombe Dam
The existing Holcombe Dam functions as a hydroelectric power station constructed in 1950 by the Wisconsin-Minnesota Light and Power Company. Currently, it is owned and managed by Xcel Energy. The facility produces an average output of 34 megawatts and is among six hydroelectric plants operated by Xcel on the Chippewa River.
The flowage’s origins trace back to 1878 when Elijah Swift and Joseph Viles built the Little Falls Dam for the Chippewa River Improvement and Log Driving Company to control water flow for log transportation. This initial dam experienced flood damage in both 1880 and 1884. In 1905, a tragic incident occurred when eleven log drivers drowned while attempting to clear a log jam near this structure. The original dam remained functional until 1910 when logging operations ended; it eventually was destroyed during flooding in the 1920s.