Who controls the Keowee shoreline?
Duke Energy. The lake covers about 18,500 acres with 387 miles of shoreline across Oconee and Pickens counties, and Duke owns it. It is the cooling reservoir for Oconee Nuclear Station.
Duke’s Keowee-Toxaway Shoreline Management Guidelines (2014) set what may be built inside the Project Boundary along the water. Back from that boundary, county rules and any community covenants decide the rest. A fence plan on a Keowee lot starts by finding all three lines.
Can a fence go inside Duke’s boundary?
Almost never. Section 2.2 of Duke’s guidelines says fences are not approved inside the Project Boundary except as needed to confine livestock watering to a small area of the shoreline.
Pens, kennels and private pools are not approved there either, so the dog run and the pool both belong up the slope. The boundary isn’t one contour around the lake: its elevation varies by tract. Your neighbor’s boundary may sit at a different height than yours, so find where it crosses your own lot from your plat or survey, or ask Duke. Building a fence on a property line in SC covers finding pins and when a survey is worth it.
What do the counties add?
A second strip back from the water, and it differs by county. Oconee keeps a vegetative buffer; Pickens keeps a wider setback with no impervious surface.
| Where | What applies | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the Project Boundary | No fences, pens, kennels or private pools, except livestock watering | Duke guidelines, Sec. 2.2 |
| Oconee County lots | 25-ft natural vegetative buffer from full pond | Oconee Sec. 38-11.1 |
| Pickens County lots | 50-ft setback from full pool, no impervious surface | Pickens UDSO Sec. 410 |
Whether a fence line may cross those strips is a question for the county before you build. Oconee County Planning & Zoning is at 864-638-4218.
What if you live in Keowee Key?
The review committee signs off first. Keowee Key’s covenants, Art. III.F, bar fences, hedges and walls on property lines without CARE approval, and any work below 804 ft needs both CARE and Duke approval.
Other communities around the lake have their own covenants. Send yours with your quote request and we build to what they say.
Which fence suits a Keowee lot?
For most lake lots, aluminum. It is see-through, published lifespans run 20 to 50 years, and it racks to follow ground that falls toward the water. Four-foot aluminum runs about $30–42 a foot.
Aluminum fence covers styles and gates. A pool has to sit outside Duke’s boundary, and its barrier must meet the state pool code: at least 48 inches tall, openings that stop a 4-inch sphere, and gates that open outward and close and latch on their own. Our 5 ft aluminum pool fence runs about $36–50 a foot, plus $550–1,000 for each gate. South Carolina’s pool fence rules go through the details. For a lot that falls steeply to the water, fences in Salem compares racked and stepped fences side by side.
