Since 1994

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TVA is spilling water over top of most if not all of its dams in preparation for Hurricane Florence and the potential rainfall she is bringing to the Tennessee River System and Valley. This is only the second time in the history of Cherokee Dam that water has been spilled over the top. 1994 was the first time, and this week makes the second. We ventured out that way this afternoon and were met with a large unexpected crowd of people viewing this historic event.
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Videos, pics, and selfies were the norm beside the cool rushing waters. These highland reservoirs were built for water storage and power generation only, and TVA is making room for possible record rainfall and run off from NC and VA. I hope every stays safe and out of harms way during this powerful display of Nature’s ability.


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I guess that water will be in Guntersville soon. Gonna be hot Saturday but I might go that night. Flowing water = Fish biting here.

I’ve been seeing this on the news. Quite the event! I’m itching to get back on the water, but not sure what to expect.:dono

thanks for the report. enjoyed the pics.

I guess I'm a little lost on this... Are they letting water out in a different way than they normally lower the water during flooding preps?

TVA opens the flood gates on Guntersville fairly often in the winter and spring after large rains, but i don't know if there's another way they can let water out besides opening the gates. I know generating electricity releases water but I'm talking strictly about excess water like they are doing in the picture.

I know that Guntersville, the other lakes in AL and a couple of the lakes in TN are much different than some of the lakes upstream in the mountinous areas

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FurFlyin

I guess I'm a little lost on this... Are they letting water out in a different way than they normally lower the water during flooding preps?

TVA opens the flood gates on Guntersville fairly often in the winter and spring after large rains, but i don't know if there's another way they can let water out besides opening the gates. I know generating electricity releases water but I'm talking strictly about excess water like they are doing in the picture.

I know that Guntersville, the other lakes in AL and a couple of the lakes in TN are much different than some of the lakes upstream in the mountinous areas

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Fur: If you look at the Operating Guide for Guntersville Lake the yearly fluctuations are within 5 feet, not leaving much room for Spring rains, hence the opening of flood gates are more common and necessary to maintain navigational water levels. If you look at Cherokee and Douglas and other highland reservoirs, (non navigational or land locked) our lakes fluctuate an average of 30 or 40ft. In the Spring our water levels are much lower than Guntersville and TVA uses the yearly precipitation to aid in filling up our lakes which experience large winter draw down levels. One of the reasons Cherokee has not spilled much water over the years is due to being able to balance the lake levels with water releases from Boone Lake, another directly upstream storage reservoir. However, the dam at Boone Lake was comprised a couple years ago with a sinkhole/ leak and Boone is now drawn down to unsafe levels ( for dam repair) and water must be continuously released and passed down/stored in Cherokee. I hope this explanation helps, our lakes form the beginning of the Tennessee River System, do not have locks and are not navigable from lake to lake, thus are treated differently from Guntersville -which is basically a great big awesome puddle in the middle of the Tennessee River.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by FurFlyin

I guess that water will be in Guntersville soon. Gonna be hot Saturday but I might go that night. Flowing water = Fish biting here.

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The last sentence in your earlier post is spot on when it comes to summertime fishing up here in East Tennessee. Hydroelectric generation in the evening due to high power demands create a current and helps the afternoon bite. Add to that what was going on several miles downstream yesterday at the dam and as Ketchn says...Kaboom
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Great pictures. I toured inside Guntersville Dam when I lived in Arab, Al. Those hydro-generators are huge and have been in service over 75 years and were still working when I lived there.