Reservoir Operations Study

Record of Decision

The TVA Board of Directors has issued a decision on a new operating policy for the Tennessee River and reservoir system. TVA and the cooperating agencies (the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) have prepared this Record of Decision to document the details of the decision and the rationale for the decision.

Record of Decision (PDF, 552 kb)

See the Managing River System Flows web page for background information on river system operations.

Final Environmental Impact Statement

TVA and the cooperating agencies prepared this final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) to document the environmental, social, and economic impacts associated with reservoir operations policy alternatives evaluated in the Reservoir Operations Study (ROS). The purpose of the ROS was to enable TVA to determine whether changes in its reservoir operations policy would produce greater overall public value.

Documents

The complete text of the final EIS is available in the following documents. (Note: these files are in PDF format and require Adobe Acrobat Reader, version 5.0 or above. Click Adobe link for free download).

Executive Summary (428 kb)
Contains an overview of the study and alternative operating policies.

Table of Contents (172 kb)
Lists the chapters, subsections, appendices, figures, tables, acronyms, and metric conversion chart.

Chapter 1: Introduction (464 kb)
The purpose and need for the study, a history of policy changes, and the results of the scoping and DEIS public review process.

Chapter 2: The Water Control System (692 kb)
The seasonal patterns of rainfall and runoff and the specific components of the water control system.

Chapter 3: Reservoir Operations Policy Alternatives (376 kb)
The process and development of alternative operating policies, comparison of the alternatives, and description of the Preferred Alternative.

Chapter 4: Description of the Affected Environment

• 4.1 Introduction to Affected Environment (396 kb)
  An overview of the 24 sections (listed below) that describe existing conditions of the environmental resource areas evaluated in the ROS.
• 4.2 Air Resources (580 kb)
  Air quality-related pollutant values and national ambient air quality standards.
• 4.3 Climate (180 kb)
  Greenhouse gases and emissions associated with global warming.
• 4.4 Water Quality (252 kb)
  Water quality conditions, including temperature, dissolved oxygen, and algae.
• 4.5 Water Supply (196 kb)
  The effects on municipal and industrial water supplies.
• 4.6 Groundwater Resources (220 kb)
  Changes in groundwater levels and effects on groundwater resources.
• 4.7 Aquatic Resources (292 kb)
  Biodiversity, sport fisheries, and commercial fisheries.
• 4.8 Wetlands (396 kb)
  Wetland location, type, and function.
• 4.9 Aquatic Plants (280 kb)
  Effects on invasive and noninvasive aquatic plants.
• 4.10 Terrestrial Ecology (156 kb)
  Species in lowland and upland plant communities and wildlife communities.
• 4.11 Invasive Terrestrial and Aquatic Animals and Terrestrial Plants (108 kb)
  Population abundance and spread of species.
• 4.12 Vector Control (104 kb)
  Population abundance of permanent pool and floodwater species.
• 4.13 Threatened and Endangered Species (136 kb)
  Occurrence patterns of threatened and endangered species.
• 4.14 Managed Areas and Ecologically Significant Site (132 kb)
  Integrity of 447 managed areas and 105 ecologically significant sites.
• 4.15 Land Use (148 kb)
  Rate of residential shoreline development and resultant change in land use.
• 4.16 Shoreline Erosion (136 kb)
  Rate of erosion of reservoir and tailwater shorelines.
• 4.17 Prime Farmland (284 kb)
  Farmland conversion to nonfarm uses.
• 4.18 Cultural Resources (136 kb)
  Integrity of historic structures and archaeological sites.
• 4.19 Visual Resources (1.5 mb)
  Scenic attractiveness, scenic integrity, and landscape visibility.
• 4.20 Dam Safety (108 kb)
  Reservoir-triggered seismicity, dam stability, and leakage from dams.
• 4.21 Navigation (228 kb)
  Cargo transport and channel depth.
• 4.22 Flood Control (192 kb)
  Magnitude of flood flows, potential flood damage, and flood recovery.
• 4.23 Power (176 kb)
  Power generation dispatch, cost of power, and power reliability system.
• 4.24 Recreation (584 kb)
  Public, private, and commercial recreation use.
• 4.25 Social and Economic Resources (224 kb)
  Population, employment, and economic activity measures.

Chapter 5: Environmental Consequences of the Alternatives

• 5.1 Introduction to Environmental Consequences (80 kb)
  An overview of the 24 sections (listed below) that describe the potential impacts of the preliminary alternatives and the Preferred Alternative on each of the affected environmental resource areas.
• 5.2 Air Resources (188 kb)
  Changes in air pollutant emissions.
• 5.3 Climate (112 kb)
  Changes in greenhouse gas emissions.
• 5.4 Water Quality (260 kb)
  Changes in the timing and amount of water flow through the system.
• 5.5 Water Supply (144 kb)
  Changes in supply for municipal or industrial use.
• 5.6 Groundwater Resources (104 kb)
  Effects on surface water and groundwater resources.
• 5.7 Aquatic Resources (316 kb)
  Changes in biodiversity, sport fisheries, and commercial fisheries.
• 5.8 Wetlands (132 kb)
  Impacts on wetland locations, types, and functions.
• 5.9 Aquatic Plants (116 kb)
  Changes in plant or invasive species coverage and plant communities.
• 5.10 Terrestrial Ecology (132 kb)
  Impacts to upland and lowland plant communities and associated wildlife.
• 5.11 Invasive Plants and Animals (104 kb)
  Changes to habitat suitability for species abundance and colonization.
• 5.12 Vector Control (108 kb)
  Changes in breeding success of mosquitoes in permanent and temporary pools.
• 5.13 Threatened and Endangered Species (192 kb)
  Occurrence of protected species within one-mile buffers of waterbodies.
• 5.14 Managed and Ecologically Significant Sites (104 kb)
  Changes in boundaries or existence of sites.
• 5.15 Land Use (104 kb)
  Changes in rates of residential shoreline development.
• 5.16 Shoreline Erosion (132 kb)
  Impacts on erosion in reservoir and tailwater riverine sections.
• 5.17 Prime Farmland (96 kb)
  Farmland conversion, primarily from residential and commercial development.
• 5.18 Cultural Resources (128 kb)
  Impacts on historic properties from erosion, streamflow, and wave action.
• 5.19 Visual Resources (124 kb)
  Changes in scenic attractiveness, landscape visibility, and scenic integrity.
• 5.20 Dam Safety (88 kb)
  Impacts to structural stability of dams and appurtenant structures.
• 5.21 Navigation (112 kb)
  Changes in depth of navigation channels.
• 5.22 Flood Control (396 kb)
  Existing flood risk condition, peak discharge, and potential flood damage.
• 5.23 Power (152 kb)
  Cost of hydropower and non-hydropower production and power system reliability.
• 5.24 Recreation (200 kb)
  Changes in recreational use of reservoirs and below-dam areas.
• 5.25 Social and Economic Resources (236 kb)
  Five pathways and four variables measuring total economic effects.

Chapter 6: Cumulative Impacts (188 kb)
Effects of the proposed action when considered together with other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions.

Chapter 7: Potential Mitigation Measures (160 kb)
TVA’s responsibility to identify a range of mitigation actions and the programmatic framework within which mitigation measures could be implemented.

Chapter 8 - List of Preparers (152 kb)
Comprehensive list of TVA staff and consultants who prepared the FEIS.

Chapter 9 - Distribution List (128 kb)
List of those in the Valley Congressional delegation, federal and state agencies, public libraries, and those individuals and organizations who requested and will receive a copy of the Executive Summary and FEIS.

Chapter 10 - Supporting Information (252 kb)
Literature cited, glossary of terms, and index.

Appendix A: Water Control System Description Tables (180 kb)
Tables describing reservoir operating characteristics, water quality targets, water supply projections, fill and drawdown dates, and hydro modernization program projects.

Appendix B: Reservoir operations Study Preliminary Alternatives (176 kb)
Descriptions of preliminary alternatives formulated from the scoping process.

Appendix C: Model Description and Results (5 mb)
Descriptions of models used for weekly scheduling, energy cost, water quality, flood control, and economics.

Appendix D: Additional Information for Resource Areas
Tables and figures for 10 resource areas.

• Appendix D1 Water Quality (220 kb)
• Appendix D2 Groundwater Resources (156 kb)
• Appendix D3 Aquatic Resources (124 kb)
• Appendix D4a Wetlands (124 kb)
• Appendix D4b Wetlands (196 kb)
• Appendix D5 Terrestrial Ecology (172 kb)
• Appendix D6a Threatened and Endangered Species (292 kb)
• Appendix D6b Threatened and Endangered Species (316 kb)
• Appendix D7 Cultural Resources (132 kb)
• Appendix D8 Recreation (336 kb)
• Appendix D9 Inter-Basin Transfers—A Sensitivity Analysis (100 kb)
• Appendix D10 Social and Economic Resources (100 kb)

Appendix E: Prime Farmland Technical Report (1.1 mb)
Report prepared for TVA by Normandeau Associates, Inc. for preparation of the DEIS.

Appendix F: Response to Comments on the DEIS
TVA responses to comments from federal and state agencies and members of the public received during the DEIS public review process.

• Appendix F1 (152 kb)
• Appendix F2 (356 kb)
• Appendix F3 (752 kb)
• Appendix F4 (1.1 mb)
• Appendix F5 (156 kb)

Appendix G: Results of Consultation performed Under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (1.2 mb)

Appendix H: Results of Consultation Performed Under the National Historic Preservation Act (288 kb)

Post-Implementation Monitoring

The ROS Final EIS and Record of Decision contained several mitigation measures to reduce the impacts of the selected alternative. Various monitoring studies are an important component of these mitigation measures.  Results of some of the monitoring studies are available here.

Wetland Monitoring Summary Report (PDF, 373 kb)
This report summarizes the wetland monitoring conducted during 2005.