Balancing Fisheries Management and Water Uses for Impounded River Systems

Peace in the Valley: Competing Interests on Tennessee Valley Authority Reservoirs

George D. Scholten, Timothy N. Churchill, and Wayne L. Poppe

doi: https://doi.org/10.47886/9781934874066.ch8

Abstract.—Conflict over recreational uses of water, land, wildlife, and fish in the Tennessee Valley is as old as the impoundments within. Public stakeholders are varied and represent valley residents and visitors and many interrelated levels on societal, business, and political scales. Fishery conflicts have been prevalent in recent decades as angler expectations are often not met or in conflict with agency objectives and other stakeholder interests. Controversy in the past has arisen from water level management, aquatic plant management, stocking programs, and sport fish harvest limitations. Conflicts of this sort are expected to increase in the future as demand for power, water, and riparian lands rise in response to projected increases in the valley’s human population. The Tennessee Valley Authority and state regulating agencies like the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency have been most successful in thwarting or resolving conflicts when putting forth strong efforts for public education on issues and inviting a broad segment of reservoir interests into the decision-making process.