By BILL HARLESS
c.2010 New York Times News Service
NASHVILLE – Responding to criticism from lawmakers, the Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday defended its release of water from Tennessee and Kentucky dams during deadly flooding in Tennessee this month that left large sections of Nashville underwater.
Two Tennessee legislators, Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Republican, and Rep, Jim Cooper, a Democrat, have called for a congressional investigation into communication between the corps and the people outside the agency – residents and local officials – over water releases at several corps-managed lakes that feed into the Cumberland River, which runs through downtown Nashville.
In addition, Cooper has asked whether the corps could have better managed water levels at its lakes, controlling the flow of water through dam floodgates so that the flooding would have been less destructive.