The rain-swollen Tennessee River has risen to its highest level in Chattanooga since last April, forcing the closing of boat ramps and piers at the Tennessee Riverpark and the shutdown of the river barge traffic through the Tennessee River Gorge just west of downtown Chattanooga.
The Tennessee Valley Authority, which controls the river through its network of 49 dams in the Tennessee Valley, opened the spillways Wednesday to increase the flow of the Tennessee River in order to help drain some of the upstream reservoirs in anticipation of more rains over the next week.
TVA began spilling water through its mainstream dams on Monday following more than 5 inches of rain last weekend, and TVA spokesman Travis Brickey said TVA weather forecasters are expecting nearly as much rain again over the next week or so.
“Our forecasts call for 4 to 5 more inches of rain in the next eight to 10 days, so we are trying to bring down the storage capacity in our major reservoirs such as Norris and Fontana,” Brickey said.
TVA helps to control the flow of the Tennessee River to limit major flooding after heavy rains by adjusting the water flow through its dams on the Tennessee River and its tributaries upstream of Chattanooga.