HYDROLOGYEast Tennessee Hydrology Overview

Profile of Tennessee River form the Tennessee State Library and Archives

Construction of the TVA dam at Fort LoudounImage of Cherokee dugout canoe from McClung Museum Corp of Engineers fore dike at the boundary of Lakeshore Park

The Ridge and Valley region has diverse drainage patterns and river systems that are host to some of the most biodiverse freshwater systems in North America. The Tennessee River and its tributary creeks have also drawn human inhabitants who have used the waters for agriculture, industry and hydroelectric power. Prior to colonization Cherokee and other indigenous communities likely fished from these waters and used the floodplains for

agricultural production. White Europeans similarly settled in valleys in order to access water from creeks, streams and rivers. During industrialization water power became common in the Ridge and Valley region. The establishment of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) damned much of the river providing extensive hydro-electric power and changing the ecologies of these waterways through intermittent flooding.

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Lakeshore Park

Waterways

North CarolinaTennessee

CLINCH RIVER

WATERSHED

TENNESSEE

RIVER

WATERSHED

Knox County

Knoxville Iron Foundry

Knoxville Iron Works

Brookside Cotton Mill

Lakeshore Park

Knox County

Waterways

Clinch River Watershed

Fall Line

Historic Industrial Sites

TVA dams

HYDROLOGYEast Tennessee Axonometric Diagram

Legend

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HYDROLOGYEffects of Fort Loudon Dam

Map of the Tennessee River at Lakeshore Park (then Eastern State Hospital) Before Fort Loudon DamPrior to the construction of the Fort Loudon Dam, which began in 1940, the TVA mapped the extents of the Tennessee River. This copy belongs to the McClung Museum at the University of Tennessee.

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Lakeshore Park (present)

HYDROLOGYEffects of Fort Loudon Dam

Existing River Extents and Island Land Mass Overlaid on Pre-Endament Map

Lakeshore Park (present)

Along with the construction of the dam, a fore dike was built along vulnerable extents of the river, including at the present site of Lakeshore Park. Lyons Island also known as Belle Isle adjacent to Lakeshore has significantly less landmass above the high water level. Water levels of the Tennessee River fluctuate seasonally as water is released at Fort Loudon Dam.

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