Spartanburg Water records that a new dam was built in 1960 to create what was then called Reservoir Number 2, now Lake William C. Bowen. The project expanded raw-water supply for the Simms Filtration Plant and made Bowen part of the public water system serving the Spartanburg area.
Today Spartanburg Water describes Bowen as a 1,534-acre reservoir with about 33 miles of shoreline. Drinking-water supply remains the controlling purpose, but Lake Bowen Park has also made the reservoir a major local recreation asset with waterfront fishing, motorized and non-motorized launching, picnic space and family amenities.
The lake's modern story also includes active fisheries and water-quality management. In 2018, SCDNR reported that roughly 500,000 bluegill and shellcracker were restocked across Lake Bowen and nearby Reservoir #1 as part of the response to a fish-kill event. That record is important historical context, not a claim about today's population size.
Bowen is also unusually well documented for a local water-supply lake. U.S. Geological Survey work with Spartanburg Water studied the reservoir's limnology and seasonal water-column behavior, and USGS continues to operate an official Lake Bowen elevation gauge. That combination of drinking-water management, lake science, fishing culture and easy local access is a large part of why Bowen functions as a true Spartanburg home lake.