CARTER COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Several lakes in Northeast Tennessee are below normal levels as the region sees an exceptionally dry summer.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced on Friday that 12 reservoirs in its operating area were experiencing low levels. Northeast Tennessee included the South Holston, Watauga, Cherokee and Douglas reservoirs.

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Outdoors Appalachia

“Throughout the summer, we’ve been a little on the dry side as far as rainfall is concerned,” said Darrel Guinn, the TVA’s senior manager of the River Forecast Center. “That’s one thing that people are starting to see is reservoirs begin to fall towards winter levels.”

Due to the lack of rain, the TVA is releasing only a minimal amount of water from each reservoir to comply with its operating policy. This leaves as much water as possible in the reservoirs for recreational use.

With the lake levels down, people heading to the water will likely notice more shorelines.

“Most of the impact is from the perspective of recreation,” Guinn said. “People that like to get out on the reservoirs and recreate… boating, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, those types of things. People that spend time on the reservoirs themselves are going to see the reservoir a little bit lower. They’re going to notice a difference in the shoreline.”

Guinn warned boaters and others to be cautious about impacted lakes as the water may be deceptively lower in certain areas, which typically allows more maneuverability.

The lake levels are not so low as to impact wildlife and their habitats and none have set record lows, according to Guinn. However, the lakes are at their lowest in years, with Guinn estimating several of the affected reservoirs have not been so depleted since 2016.

The TVA has to ensure that enough water is released from its reservoirs to maintain base operations along the Tennessee River system.

“The river system is comprised of two main components, that being our tributary system, that’s these big, big reservoirs over here in the east that are kind of the storage vessels for the main Tennessee River system. The mainstream river is the other component of that system, and it’s 652 miles of the main Tennessee River from Knoxville, Tennessee that eventually ends up flowing into the Ohio River in Paducah, Kentucky.”

By maintaining minimum flow to the river system, the TVA ensures water quality, protects aquatic habitats and generates hydropower.

Due to the extra dry summer months, the lakes will not be able to return to full summer pool levels as they were when the season started.

“It would take several inches to get us back to normal, just to maintain,” Guinn said. “That’s not catching the reservoirs back up to summer pool because that would take several more inches on top of that to return us back to summer pool. It’s just a very dry time of year.”

Guinn told News Channel 11 that the TVA will start looking at long-term forecasts to figure out how the drought conditions will impact the reservoirs as the seasons change.

“We constantly are monitoring the long-range forecast and making decisions based on predictions from the National Weather Service,” Guinn said.

Guinn said the TVA considers Labor Day the unofficial end of summer as far as recreation is concerned.

“We have several scheduled releases throughout the summer that we schedule for the public to enjoy recreation, such as tailwater, fishing, whitewater rafting and those types of things,” Guinn said. “That officially kind of wraps up on Labor Day weekend, and then we’ll start looking at preparing for the winter drawdown.”

Guinn encouraged people to check the levels of their local reservoirs by using the TVA app or checking the TVA’s website.

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