LOUDON COUNTY, Tenn. — Tennessee Valley Authority forecasters said the spillways at Fort Loudoun Dam were open on Wednesday due to recent rainfall.
The spillway will be open until further notice with more than 26,000 cubic feet of water moving through it every second, TVA said.
"When we receive heavy rainfall events, we store that water behind the dams," said Darrell Guinn, senior manager at the TVA River Forecast Center. "We prevent downstream impacts from flooding and those types of things. One of the other benefits is using the excess runoff to generate hydroelectricity."
TVA said boaters should be aware of debris moving downstream during the spill and said they should use caution around the dams.