Driest Spring Since 1986 Drops Lakes
By Dave Flessner, Chattanooga Times/Free Press, Tenn.
May 21–Amid the region’s second worst drought on record, the Tennessee Valley Authority is struggling to get Tennessee River lakes up to their normal summertime levels.
Most of the tributary lakes that flow into the Tennessee River won’t reach their usual summer levels by Memorial Day weekend, officials said.
“We’ve held back as much water as we can since February to keep our lake levels up,” said Charles Bach, TVA’s manager of river operations. “But unless we get some major rainstorms, we’re not going to get all of our lakes up” to normal summer levels.
If the drought continues, crop and livestock production could suffer and, officials said, TVA’s cheapest power generating source will be curtailed.
“I’m asking everybody I know to wash their car to hopefully bring us some more rain,” Mr. Bach said.
During the first four months of 2007, rainfall in the Tennessee Valley east of Chattanooga was the second lowest in the 118 years of rainfall records, according to TVA. Mr. Bach said only about 11 inches of rain have fallen across East Tennessee, North Georgia and western North Carolina.
That’s 8.8 inches below normal and the worst drought at this time of the year since 1986, he said.
The rainfall deficit has been even worse in Chattanooga, according to the National Weather Service. So far this year, rainfall in Chattanooga is running only half the normal level, or more than 11 inches below normal.
“It looks like it will stay dry until at least Wednesday night,” said Terry Getz, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported last week that conditions may improve in the Southeast this summer, but the Tennessee Valley still is in an “extreme drought condition.”
The lack of rain isn’t reducing any lake levels around Chattanooga, which drains nearly half of the Tennessee Valley watershed. The water levels of the reservoirs along the Tennessee River, including the Watts Bar, Chickamauga and Nickajack lakes in the Chattanooga area, already have reached their summertime levels.
But the flow of the river — and TVA’s ability to generate cheap hydroelectric power — is being curtailed by the lack of rain. Runoff from rainfall into the Tennessee River is running 38 percent below normal and soon could cut hydro electricity production for TVA nearly in half, officials said. TVA typically derives nearly 10 percent of its peak power from its hydro units.
“We expect the dry conditions, which we have experienced since December, to continue to affect TVA’s hydro generation output and revenue outlook throughout the summer months,” TVA President Tom Kilgore said last week in announcing lower-than-projected earnings for the agency in its second quarter.
But considering the rainfall deficit, the problem could be far worse for TVA. The federal agency was aided this year by its decision two years ago to revise its reservoir management program and to keep higher wintertime lake levels on its tributaries.
The new lake management plan keeps reservoirs such as Fontana Lake in North Carolina 12 feet higher than in the past during winter months and doesn’t draw down the lakes as soon during the summer.
“We’re still not going to get the lake up to our normal summertime levels,” said David Montieth, a Swain County, N.C., commissioner who also is a member of the Fontana Lake Users Association. “But nearly all of our boats and docks are now floating.”
Mr. Montieth estimated that the higher lake levels under TVA’s revised reservoir management plan in the past couple of years have helped generate at least another $1.5 million of tourism spending in his county.
“If TVA doesn’t jerk the lake levels down too early this summer, we shouldn’t be hurt too badly,” he said. “Hopefully, the good Lord will intervene and give us some more rain.”
E-mail Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com
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Copyright (c) 2007, Chattanooga Times/Free Press, Tenn.
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