More than 100,000 cubic feet per second of water pours through the Chickamauga Dam in Chattanooga
For the first summer in five years, the Tennessee Valley Authority is spilling water at most of its major storage reservoirs, including through the spillway tunnels at Lake Fontana, its biggest lake.
TVA spokesman Travis Brickey said that Lake Fontana rose nearly five feet above its normal summertime level this week after parts of western North Carolina were deluged with 13 to 15 inches of rain over the past week.
"We're trying to bring our reservoirs back to normal summertime levels after heavy rains all week," he said. "Usually at this time of the year, we are trying to reach our summertime lake levels, but we've had a lot of rain."
Water flows through spillway tunnels at Fontana Dam, the tallest U.S. dam east of the Mississippi River
TVA was spilling water at eight of its nine mainstream dams today and at many of its upstream reservoirs so Hickey cautioned boaters and others on the Tennessee River this weekend to be aware of the extra flow of the river due to the recent rains.
TVA is spilling more than 100,000 million cubic feet per second through the Chickamauga Dam in Chattanooga to help bring down rain-swollen reservoirs east of Chattanooga.