The dam was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1974 and 1985 for the purposes of flood control, hydroelectricity, recreation, additional stream flow regulation, water supply, and fish and wildlife management.

[1] The Flood Control Act of 1966 authorized construction of a new reservoir on the Savannah River to be named Trotters Shoals Lake and Dam.

The lake reached full pool in December 1984 and the original power plant of four 75 megawatts (101,000 hp) conventional turbine-generators went online in January 1985.

In 1992, the addition of four 75 MW reversible pump-turbine units was completed, giving the dam a pumped-storage hydroelectricity capability.

The concrete section is flanked on both sides by earthen-embankment dams that total 3,320 feet (1,010 m) long.