By ZOË WATKINS
zwatkins@bedforcountypost.com
Normandy Dam (Photo by Zoe Watkins)
With summer around the corner, more and more people are expected to frequent the local waterways, including Normandy and Tim’s Ford Reservoirs as well as the Duck and Elk Rivers.
But with all the rain throughout the month of May, Tennessee Valley Authority continues to work to bring the water levels down to safe recreational levels while also managing the high rains.
“It’s the time of year when people want to know is my reservoir, my lake, going to be ready for the recreation season,” said Scott Brooks, a Senior Media Specialist with TVA. “So the answer for this year for Normandy and Tim’s Ford is yes.”
Representatives from TVA still advise water-sport goers to check levels beforehand. You can do this by visiting their website or downloading the Lake Info app.
“Reservoir conditions can change at any time, especially below the dams,” said Brooks. He adds be mindful of debris that can result from high water levels.
“Even if you’re going into a cove, to go boating and swimming, that you go to every year, it may look a little different–all the debris that’s been washed into the reservoir. We try to deal with that when it reaches the dam, but we want people to be extra safe,” said Brooks.
Elisabeth Thompson, Senior TVA Communications Consultant for the North Region, added that a team of river forecasters based in Chattanooga keep eyes on all the reservoirs to know how much to release.
But all the recent rain that southern middle Tennessee has experienced over the last month is actually a good thing, according to TVA regional representatives.
“Coming into this year, we had six months of below normal rainfall and then over a year of below normal runoff,” said Brooks.
This put them in a situation last fall where the area was in a drought.
“The good news is, last week, all these major storm systems we’ve had kind of even things out for us, so we are now in a position where all of our reservoirs, including Tim’s Ford and Normandy, are at summer pool,” Brooks explained.
Summer pool refers to the “recreation level” required for the summer. For Tim’s Ford’s summer pool, which is currently a foot above, is 888 feet above sea level, according to Adam May, also a Senior Media Specialist with TVA.
Normandy and Tim’s Ford don’t fluctuate in levels a lot, like Fontana Reservoir in North Carolina, which can fluctuate 60 feet between winter and summer.
“We still want there to be room for snow melt, spring rain,” said Brooks.
They start the drawdown for their winter pool the first week of September and then their summer pool by the first week of June.
“If you go back to 1933 when we were formed, the city of Chattanooga used to flood on a regular basis. Devastating floods,” said Brooks. “Then we created the Tennessee River system of dams and that reduced that dramatically to maybe once in every ten years, the eater levels might rise.”
Shelbyville, too, would have been one of the many communities and towns flooded by major storm surges.
And this extra water is also a plus for TVA which uses hydropower technology to generate 10% of their electricity.
“Maybe something we’re not as well known for is obviously generating and transmitting electricity,” said Thompson.
“About three years ago they switched to a regional model. “People can, for example, respond to disasters in a much more localized way as opposed to everything coming out of Knoxville or Chattanooga,” said Brooks.
TVA also works closely with 153 LPCs, or local power companies. For the Bedford County area, that includes Shelbyville Power and Duck River Electric.
“It’s nice to have a team that lives in the area,” said Thompson.
“Each local power company purchases at least the vast majority of their power from TVA,” Thompson explained. For context, this was established under the TVA Act and through the wholesale power contracts with each LPC.
“We effectively serve as their wholesale power provider or their regulator and they take that power and serve their local community,” said Thompson. “We’re very grateful for the partnerships we have with the local power companies.”
Thompson also explained they are working on adjusting the flow rate of Normandy Dam. Whether that rate goes up or down has yet to be ratified, but the authority is processing the environmental assessment – which will start in the next couple of weeks.
“It’s a very public process,” said Brooks. “We want public comment: what should we be looking at, what are your concerns, the environmental concerns, what does the community want us to focus on.”
And with recent concerns surrounding the water levels of the Duck, both Thompson and Brooks assure TVA is having to stay ahead of the possible changes that may come.
“We’ve been working with Duck River agencies and local power companies–what would our solutions look like? And so this draft, this environmental assessment coming out in the next couple of weeks, will be one attempt to look at the options,” said Brooks.
The question remains, with summer, is there going to be enough power to meet demand?
“As far as we’re concerned, the answer is yes. We have enough power on the system to meet demand even when the temperatures get warm,” said Brooks.
