The so-called Winter Storm Goliath occurred between Christmas and New Years and caused (and is causing) considerable flooding in the Mississippi-Missouri-Ohio river system. The Hiawassee River and TVA Lake Chatuge are part of this system. Lake Chatuge is half in Hiawassee/Towns County, Georgia and half in North Carolina. It was formed by the TVA construction of a dam in North Carolina in 1940. Chatuge Dam is operated by the TVA to generate electricity, to provide recreational opportunities, and for flood control. During Winter the lake is usually maintained about 10 feet below its "full" level, and then gradually raised in Spring to "full" by June 1 for recreational use of the lake. Then in September and October it is dropped back to its Winter level. I assume TVA manipulates the opening and closing of the discharge pipes to the dam's turbines to manipulate the water level. Significant rain during WS Goliath brought a lot of rain to the area and filled up Lake Chatuge above is "full" level, and feeder creeks flooded and caused road damage.
On my way out of town, I decided to check on the status of Chatuge Dam, as I had never seen the lake this high. Chatuge Dam is an earth-and-rock-filled dam with a concrete spillway that discharges at about eight to ten feet below the top of the dam. I had never seen any water in the spillway. As these pictures show, the lake is flood-full and a few inches of water are being discharged over the spillway.
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| Chatuge Dam Spillway, near Hiawassee, GA |
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| Chatuge Dam at Flood-Full, Adjacent to Spillway |
Hiawassee River discharges into the Tennessee River, which combines with the Cumberland River and pours into the Ohio River, which then merges with the Mississippi River. I had assumed that TVA was actively engaged in flood control on its upriver dams to reduce downriver flooding. Active flood control, to me, would mean closing the discharge pipes on the upriver dams. As I indicated, Lake Chatuge is flood-full and water is passing over the spillway. But when I crossed the Hiawassee River about a quarter-mile below the dam, it was full, meaning the discharge pipes were fully open. I conclude that the rainfall and river flow has been so great that all TVA can do in the way of flood control is to passively allow the lake to hold as much water as it can, and discharge the remainder downstream. If this is the case throughout the river system, then WS Goliath taxed the flood control aspect of the system to its capacity, and any more rain in the near future is likely to cause more downstream flooding.
Tomorrow I will be crossing the Mississippi River and traveling in Arkansas. The river at Memphis is above flood stage and has not yet crested. The worst of the flooding has occurred in Missouri, and will be to the North of me.
The other thing I noticed on my drive was the substantial amount of ground-level green across North Alabama and North Mississippi. I think this is a reflection of the mild winter so far, plus the recent rain followed by relatively warm temperatures.
Day 1 mileage: 430
