TVA Meeting Update

Owner of Tailwaters Lodge, Bruce Cote was able to get us a meeting on the calendar with TVA regarding our concern with the South Holston Tailwater.  This meeting took place on 7/27/23 in Knoxville.  Patrick Fulkrod, Matt Maness, Bruce Cote along with Ryan Turgeon from Trout Unlimited and myself made the trip to meet with GM of River Management, James Everett and VP of the Eastern Region Carol Eimers along with Darrell Guinn and Shannon O'Quinn.

James Everett provided us with an educational presentation on how the TVA system works and explained the different complex factors that play a part in the transfer of water through the entire system. 

We were able to express several concerns that we felt were very important for the future of both the Watauga and the South Holston. 

We expressed that Increasing the flows on South Holston during key times would solve most issues. This would improve water temperatures and provide a more suitable habitat for invertebrates.  This also would spread out the anglers and take the stress off the Watauga moving forward. 

TVA was very receptive and concerned with the decrease in the trout population as well as increase in water temperature as well as the lopsided angling pressure that is affecting the Watauga negatively.

TVA does not have a quick fix but they will look at this in detail to see how they may tweak their operations to increase flows on the South Holston.  Although current policy restraints will not allow them to give us the flows we requested (300cfs minimum & recreational flows similar to Watauga) it sounds like changes can be made within the restraints to improve current conditions on the South Holston River. 

Creating a relationship with TVA was the first step in this process.  They were genuinely appreciative of our concern and looked forward to working with us to improve the overall health of the South Holston. The vibe of Thursday's meeting was extremely positive and very beneficial as expressed by us and TVA.  We will follow up on progress in a few weeks to see what plans are being discussed for changes. 

A big thank you to Bruce for making this meeting possible and to TVA for setting time aside to meet with us in this time sensitive initiative.