Upper Hiwassee River Basin reservoirs 1989 water quality assessment

Technical Report · Thu Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1991

OSTI ID:6831880

Fehring, J P

The water in the Upper Hiwassee River Basin is slightly acidic and low in conductivity. The four major reservoirs in the Upper Hiwassee River Basin (Apalachia, Hiwassee, Chatuge, and Nottely) are not threatened by acidity, although Nottely Reservoir has more sulfates than the other reservoirs. Nottely also has the highest organic and nutrient concentrations of the four reservoirs. This results in Nottely having the poorest water clarity and the most algal productivity, although clarity as measured by color and secchi depths does not indicate any problem with most water use. However, chlorophyll concentrations indicate taste and odor problems would be likely if the upstream end of Nottely Reservoir were used for domestic water supply. Hiwassee Reservoir is clearer and has less organic and nutrient loading than either of the two upstream reservoirs. All four reservoirs have sufficient algal activity to produce supersaturated dissolved oxygen conditions and relatively high pH values at the surface. All four reservoirs are thermally stratified during the summer, and all but Apalachia have bottom waters depleted in oxygen. The very short residence time of Apalachia Reservoir, less than ten days as compared to over 100 days for the other three reservoirs, results in it being more riverine than the other three reservoirs. Hiwassee Reservoir actually develops three distinct water temperature strata due to the location of the turbine intake. The water quality of all of the reservoirs supports designated uses, but water quality complaints are being received regarding both Chatuge and Nottely Reservoirs and their tailwaters.

• Research Organization: Tennessee Valley Authority, Chattanooga, TN (United States). Water Quality Dept.
• Sponsoring Organization: TVA; Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, TN (United States)
• OSTI ID: 6831880
• Report Number(s): TVA/WR/WQ-92/1; ON: DE93008996
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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130600 -- Hydro Energy-- Environmental Aspects
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ACID NEUTRALIZING CAPACITY
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CHEMISTRY
COMPILED DATA
DATA
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
INFORMATION
INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUMERICAL DATA
NUTRIENTS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PH VALUE
RIVERS
STREAMS
SURFACE WATERS
TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY
US ORGANIZATIONS
WATER CHEMISTRY
WATER QUALITY
WATER RESERVOIRS
WATER USE