Following record rainfall in February, the Tennessee Valley Authority is monitoring water levels and releasing water in East Tennessee as we prepare for more rainfall this weekend.
The tributary system in East Tennessee remains 'very full.' The TVA said the Ft. Loudon, Norris, Melton Hill, Fontana, Douglas, and Cherokee lakes are well above flood guide because of the persistent rain in February.
“Most all of our tributary reservoirs are above flood guide…they’re above where we’d like to be during this time of year, however we have released aggressively to preserve flood storage and even recover flood storage in a lot of places,” TVA manager James Everett said.
Controlled releases and sluicing continues at Norris Dam to prepare for the coming rain, which the TVA said Norris was roughly 5 feet above summer pool-- which hit around 1025' above sea level and storage can go another ten feet above to 1035'.
Most of the other tributary lakes have not reached summer pool during the recent rain, and TVA says the river at the eastern end of the valley is at winter pool.
All that water has come much faster than the TVA can release, as they have to balance water storage with controlled releases in order to minimize flooding across the entire Tennessee Valley.
While the TVA made good progress during the drier weather this week in offloading water levels, they are expecting 1-3 inches of rain across the valley -- which will slow that recession.
The TVA said there is some moderate flooding in locations downstream from the Pickwick Dam in southwest Tennessee because of the aggressive release rates. The Kentucky Dam at the end of the system is currently releasing 3 million gallons each second.
The TVA is working with the Army Corps of Engineers to coordinate releases because of levels at the Ohio River from rain in other parts of the country.
Tons of debris has been flowing down the river. So far, the TVA has not seen any damage due to the debris flowing over the dams -- but they said they are still doing assessments.
The TVA is asking people to exercise extreme caution while on the water because of the sheer speed and volume that is flowing through the area, as well as the floating debris.
All available generators are being utilized, so the TVA said the rain has provided a benefit producing a lot of power. However, they may have to shut down generation to slow releases at any given dam if they see heavy downpours.