lower water levels this year

[alicia ayers]

Hello everyone , my cousin, who works for CFP told me they were going to drop the water down 12 ft. this year due to continuation of work below damn . Has anyone else heard about this ? Also that they would be putting in a longer ramp so no damage to axles due to much lower levels than normal . I guess TVA would have further info. not sure

 

[Springmillvol]

Wow. Pretty new to the chick but 12 ft seems like a lot. It is down what about 4 ft now? I found out the hard way last weekend with my prop. Luckily only cosmetic damage but seems like it would be hard to ever get out of the channel at 12?

 

[fischnrod]

If you don't have your boat in a slip at a marina I don't know if there is a ramp to put a boat in at that level but it would be nice to see it down there 1 time

 

[sdfd29]

I would think that this is just a rumor.

The nuclear plants on the reservoir have to have intake water for cooling purposes, after a 12 foot drop that would decrease the water available for the plants. If the intakes were even under water at those levels (not sure I know that they were extended several years ago, but not sure how much). I would think that we would have heard about this due to environmental concerns.

Also, what affect would reducing Chickamauga by 12 feet have on the area below the dam? None -- the levels would be the same below the dam where the new lock is goin in. Reducing the levels on Nick-A-Jack would make more sense. But, they have a weir dam around the new lock. So why would the levels need to be decreased??

And as stated above, no one would have access to the lake. No ramps would be available for launching. The boats at the marinas would be on dry land as some of the marinas would be dry. And last, how would the river traffic for barges be handled? Not much room for error when their navigation.

 

[Johna]

You can learn a lot about the lake at 12 ft. They drop ours 30 or more feet.

 

[camaro88z]

I am with sdfd29. I don't think they could do that here. I think but correct me if I am wrong it is at normal winter pool now.

 

[fischnrod]

camaro88z - 11/9/2017 10:49 PM

I am with sdfd29. I don't think they could do that here. I think but correct me if I am wrong it is at normal winter pool now.

It still has about 3 feet to go to get to normal winter pool, 676.5 is winter pool and when I looked earlier it was 679.39 .

 

[flyman]

no...normally winter level is 6--7 ft below full poo, you can check the link below and look at history of where "normal" winter levels are

http://www.chickamaugalake.info/Level.asp

 

[fischnrod]

Chickamauga: Facts + Figures
Construction of Chickamauga Dam began in 1936 and was completed in 1940.
The dam is 129 feet high and stretches 5,800 feet across the Tennessee River.
Chickamauga Reservoir has 784 miles of shoreline and about 36,240 acres of water surface. It has a flood-storage capacity of 345,300 acre-feet.
In order to maintain the water depth required for navigation, the minimum winter elevation for Chickamauga Reservoir is 675 feet. The typical summer operating range is between 681.5 and 682.5 feet.

 

[alicia ayers]

well this why I posted this on forum ! I think my cousin heard wrong also and I knew some of you would know the facts ! I'm hoping not true, because like you all said , no one could launch their boat !! Thank you, and will tell my cousin to go back to source he heard from and question them on info he was given !Safe launching to all

 

[Reel2Reel]

I hope this isn't true. I need to feed the fish lol!!

 

[spnplgr]

If this is true, we could get a once in a lifetime view of much of the bottom structure outside the main channel. About 25 years ago, lake Gaston on the N. C. - Virginia state line, was lowered all the way to the main channel in order to allow the freeze to kill invasive weeds. I walked a lot of the lake and was in awe of what I saw. It was absolutely amazing, to say the least. So, if it happens here, take advantage and walk all the areas you like to fish. You will be surprised at what you find.