The lake catches runoff from a 540 square mile drainage area. When storing floodwater, the lake could rise a maximum of 120 feet above summer level. Under maximum storage conditions, the seven-mile lake would increase to 22 miles and would contain 66 billion gallons of water. The lake level is lowered in the fall and winter to allow for additional storage of floodwater. R.D. Bailey is a unit in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Ohio River basin flood control system.
All dams work together to help reduce flood crests along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.
The 19,000-acre R.D. Bailey Lake project is located in the rugged Appalachian Mountains. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers developed the project to reduce flood damage along the Guyandotte and Ohio Rivers. Authorized by Congress in the Federal Flood Control Act of 1962, the lake also provides downstream water quality, fish and wildlife habitat, and many recreation opportunities. The dam is on the Guyandotte River near the southwestern West Virginia town of Justice. The lake is in Wyoming County.