High Rock Lake is a reservoir located on the Yadkin River in central North Carolina in the counties of Davidson and Rowan.

After the permanent closing of the Badin Works in 2007, Alcoa continued to operate its Yadkin hydroelectric facilities until selling them to Cube Hydro Carolinas in 2016.

Upstream, the Yadkin River drains 4,341 square miles (10,290 km2) of the land area of North Carolina’s northwest piedmont.

High Rock Mountain, the highest point in the Uwharries, towers over the adjoining dam site creating one of the most extensive views found in the North Carolina piedmont.

Being its furthest upstream resource, High Rock was managed by Alcoa during most of its years of ownership not only for its electricity production, but also to control water levels in all the Uwharrie Lakes downstream.

Since its construction, surrounding communities including Lexington, Salisbury, Southmont, Spencer, and Denton, have enjoyed tremendous economic benefit through recreation driven by the lake.

There are a number of campgrounds that adjoin the lake, some offering year round space rentals that also provide access to guests.

While hydroelectric electricity may produce less green house gas emissions than fossil fuel power plants, the Yadkin Project dams also have a history of environmental impacts, with low dissolved oxygen in the tailraces of multiple dams and water quality violations for turbidity, ph and chlorophyll-a on High Rock Lake.

When water levels plummeted to six feet above the "run of river" state (24 feet below normal), federal and state agencies closed the High Rock dam, forcing reservoirs like Badin Lake and Lake Tillery (who were at full pond status) to pick up the slack to maintain flows on the lower Yadkin/Pee Dee River.

Until Hurricane Fay passed through the area in late August 2008, most of North Carolina was experiencing drought levels that ranged from Severe to Exceptional (the highest level),[16] with rainfall averages below yearly average for the entire state, including the entire Yadkin-Pee Dee watershed.

The 2008 protocols allowed Alcoa to reduce the output at the dam to be equal to the amount of water entering the lake through various creeks and the Yadkin River.

Previously, Badin Lake had to be maintained at a level no lower than 2-foot (0.61 m) below full pond as long as High Rock could provide the water fast enough.

New regulations expected to take effect in the new contract due in 2008 would make these temporary measures permanent, reducing the likelihood that High Rock would see lake levels that exceed 20 feet (6.1 m) below full pond again.

This was accomplished although the total inflow of water is less than it was during the 2002 drought, demonstrating that the previous conditions were related to both a lack of rainfall and antiquated lake management rules that were agreed to in the 1958 contract.