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Riparian Zone Protection by TVA:
An Overview of Policies and Programs 1
Roosevelt T. Allen 2 and Ronald J. Field 3
Abstract.--The Tennessee Valley Authority, since its
inception, has promoted the protection and management of the
riparian resources of the Tennessee River drainage basin.
Current policies, practic2s, and major programs providing
for protection of the riparian environment are described.
INTRODUCTION
Today, TVA's integrated water control system
of 40 dams and reservoirs (36 TVA dams) and with
over 8 percent of the total stream miles impounded,
the unified development of the Tennessee Valley
called for in the TVA Act is virtually completed.
Protection of riparian areas created by these
projects is an integral part of TVA's mission. For
the purpose of this paper the riparian areas include
those areas, typically floodplain forests and
wetlands, lying adjacent to impounded and freeflowing bodies of water and which are affected by
the water body (Darnell, et al., 1976). Riparian
zone protection is accomplished through a variety
of programs and policies with some overlap between
them. These may be classified as (1) land management
and administration of Section 26a of the TVA Act;
(2) floodplain management; (3) implementation of
Federal environmental protection laws, regulations,
and Executive Orders; and (4) natural resources
development and conservation programs.
As a regionally based Federal natural
resources development and conservation agency, the
Tennessee Valley Authority, since its inception in
1933, has had a profound influence on the riparian
environment of the Tennessee River drainage basin.
The impacts of its dam construction activities on
the riparian ecosystem of the Tennessee Valley as
well as the general ecological effects of stream
alteration on the riparian environment are well
known. Lesser known is TVA's role in protecting
riparian ecosystems.
Protection of the riparian environment is not
new for TVA. Under the TVA Act of 1933, the
Tennessee Valley Authority has the unique responsibility for fostering on a regional basis the
physical, social, and economic development by
providing flood control, improving navigation,
generating electricity, and by furthering the
proper use, conservation, and development of the
natural resources of the Tennessee River drainage
basin. Although its better known role in power
production, navigation, and flood control often
overshadows its conservation and natural resources
activities, TVA, throughout its history, has had
programs designed to either expressly or indirectly
protect the riparian ecosystem of the Tennessee
River drainage basin. For example, earlier conservation efforts by TVA, such as planting trees and
ground covers on more than 350,000 acres, not only
complemented TVA's water resources development
projects, but the reforestation program not only
increases the acreage of riparian forests but by
curbing erosions and restoring the Valley's forest
also reduced the loss of riparian habitat.
LAND MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF
SECTION 26a OF THE TVA ACT
TVA holds title to or interest in 654,000
acres (264,777 ha) of impounded surface, 346,000
acres (140,081 ha) of land and 11,280 miles
(18,194 km) of lacustrine and riverine shorelines.
In addition, under Section 26a of the TVA Act, TVA
approval must be obtained for the construction,
operation, or maintenance of any dam, appurtenant
works, or other obstruction structure affecting
navigation, flood control, or public lands or
reservatioas across, along, or in the Tennessee
River or any of its tributaries. TVA has also
retained or acquired certain landrights along the
shorelines of its reservoirs and use, release, or
sale of these rights is frequently needed before
shoreline development can proceed.
lPaper presented at the 1st North American
Riparian Conference on Riparian Ecosystems and
Their Management-Reconciling Conflicting Uses.
2Coordinator (Environmental Matters), Division
of Land and Economic Resources, TVA, Knoxville, TN.
3Program Manager, Wildlife Resources Program,
Division of Land and Economic Resources, TVA,
Norris, TN.
23
guidelines. Under re~ently revised instructions,
"the marginal strip may not be used in a way that
will block or unduly restrict the general public's
use of reservoir shorelands or water and all
permissive uses are subject to environmental review
and the paramount rights on behalf of the public."
Furtherance of that objective is also accomplished
by requiring all water-use facilities to be
clustered and by s~ipulating that best management
practices be used to control erosion and sedimentation from areas disturbed during the construction
of such facilities.
TVA makes its reservoir property available for
use by others through permits, licenses, sell,
conveyance of transfers when it determines that
such action will contribute to the achievement of
TVA program objectives, or otherwise further the
public interest and will not be adverse to the
interest of the United States. TVA annually
reviews and approves over 1,500 26a requests which
may affect riparian habitat. These include boat
docks or piers, boat launching ramps, marine railways, driveways, shoreline protection structures,
ports, barge facilities, highway and railroad
embankment, and commercial recreational facilities.
It also reviews and approves about 200 land use
requests, ranging from a license for public recreation purposes to the sale of fee title for an
industrial park. These types of shoreland uses,
for the most part, have little or no effect on
riparian habitat. Certain of the uses, however,
such as agriculture, barge terminal facilities, and
commercial recreation can reduce productivity or
severely alter the natural value of riparian lands.
3.
In evaluating projects affecting its shorelands,
TVA seeks to further multiple use of its land while
minimizing adverse environmental impacts. While
TVA's decision to deny or approve a request is not
based solely on impact to riparian habitats, its
evaluation procedures has direct implication on
such areas. Project evaluation is accomplished by:
1.
Hul tidisciplinary review:
each request is
reviewed by TVA specialists for potential
environmental and program impact on current and
proposed recreation areas, sensitive or natural
areas, wild and scenic rivers or inventoried
rivers (Department of Interior, 1980); wetlands;
important wetlands and upland wildlife species
and habitats; endangered or threatened species
populations and their critical habitats; natural
landmarks and other sensitive biological features
of State and local interests; aquatic resources;
air and water quality; flood control; navigation,
and archaeological resources. Depending on the
nature of the proposal and the kind and magnitude
of environmental or program impacts, an environmental assessment of environmental impact statement may be prepared. The usual product of these
reviews, however, is a project summary containing
staff findings and appropriate environmental
commitments to protect sensitive resources.
In addition to conducting its own evaluation of
construction activities in or along the Tennessee
River System, TVA and the Corps of Engineers
(Corps) for several years have jointly processed
permits for activities requiring authorization
by both agencies. This cooperative relationship
arises from the overlapping regulatory authority
of Section 26a of the TVA Act and those of the
Corps under Section 10 of the River and Harbor
Act of 1899 and Section 404 of the Clean Water
Act.
2.
Design criteria and operational standards for
private water use facilities:
construction of
private recreational water use facilities on
the marginal strip 1ands,4 and flowage easement
areas 5 must conform to TVA standards and
24
Reservoir land-use plans: historically, the shorelands around TVA's reservoirs have been used to
meet a range of regional and local resource development needs and to enhance and improve the
quality of life in the Valley (TVA, 1981). These
TVA-owned shore1ands along with adjoining private
land have been utilized for the development of
State parks, industry, wildlife management, and
recreation. For the most part, these uses were
in harmony with the environment, but sometimes in
conflict.
In 1980, TVA began a new reservoir planning
initiative for lands under TVA's control on its
9 major reservoirs.
This planning process
reflects its mUltiple use programs and land.
management responsibilities. Comprehensive
reservoir-by-reservoir plans are developed based
on information obtained from the public and
extensive resource data, such as soil characteristics, location of current developments, forest
cover, wetlands, and land use capability. The
resulting land use plan is a decisionmaking guide
that helps TVA to expedite the handling of land
use requests and to better meet its responsibilities as a public land management agency. As
of today, plans for three reservoirs have been
completed amd a fourth is under way. Through
this process over 97,000 acres of TVA lands have
been allocated for specific uses, including
wildlife management and wetlands prote~tion.
4.
Anti-pollution covenants:
certain standard
provlslons in TVA-issued licenses, leases,
easements, and deeds limit or control potential
impacts on the riparian zone. For example, TVA
incorporates requirements for nonpoint source
control measures in its land use agreements and
the construction plans approved under 26a.
TVA also has accepted responsibility from the
Governor of Tennessee under Section 208 of the Clean
Water Act to control nonpoint sources from properties
4Shore1ine margin of the reservoir situated
between abutting private residential property and
the waters of TVA reservoirs.
5Refers to the lake bottom and/or part of the
shoreline margin of a reservoir that is in private
ownership, but subject to certain rights acquired
by TVA, generally including the right to flood and
the right to remove obstructions.
under TVA control in Tennessee.
Under this program
TVA has developed guidelines for using best management practices (BMP's) in forest harvesting; for
control of erosion and sedimentation from land
disturbing activities as part of land use easements;
and for agricultural activities on TVA lands.
also to direct or indirect support of individual
projects or programs as appropriate. One example
of the effectiveness of TVA's wetlands protection
program is the construction and maintenance of
transmission lines. Under current guidelines,
clearing of streamside vegetation is discouraged and
when clearing becomes necessary only hand equipment
is used in order to limit impacts on riparian habitat.
FLOODPLAIN HANAGEMENT
Development in the floodplains has resulted in
significant losses of riparian ecosystems and their
values to wildlife (Brinson et al., 1981). While
these losses in the southeastern United States are
largely attributable to clearing of bottom land
hardwoods and floodplain forests for agriculture
uses, urban uses of riparian lands also has contributed to the decline. These latter uses were the
impetus behind the development of TVA's floodplain
management program.
Beginning in 1953, TVA launched
a program to "keep people away from floods." This
program has four major components:
provision of
general and detailed information on flooding,
technical assistance to local planners and officials,
assistance in developing local comprehensive flood
damage reduction plans, and limited assistance in
implementing portions of these plans where it is
felt to be in the public interest (TVA 1983). By
working with local communities and local and State
planners, TVA has assisted more than 300 communities
and over 100 communities have officially adopted
floodplain regulations. These efforts on the part
of TVA and the many communities have not only reduced
flood loss, but limited the loss of and impact on
riparian habitats.
IMPLEMENTATION OF FEDERAL
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION LAWS
As a Federal agency, TVA is required by the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Public
Law No. 91-190 (1970), as amended, to incorporate
environmental consideration into its decisionmaking.
In carrying out this mandate, TVA has developed
counterpart regulations which emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to evaluation of projects that
could potentially affect the quality of the human
environment. This ensures not only that TVA
projects are evaluated for their environmental impact
but that projects of others involving TVA action
(e.g., 26a approvals, technical or financial
assistance, landrights) are also appropriately
evaluated. While compliance with NEPA per se does
not prohibit or otherwise control TVA's activities
which affect riparian habitats, the interdisciplinary
review process, coupled with its resource conservation responsibilities, ensures that loss or degradation of riparian habitat is minimized to the extent
feasible.
TVA also has developed procedures implementing
Executive Order Nos. 11988, Floodplain Management,
and 11990, Protection of Wetlands. Consistent with
the Executive Orders, TVA makes every effort to
avoid long- and short-term impacts associated with
the occupancy and modification of floodplains and
with the destruction of wetlands. TVA applies
this commitment not only to its own activities but
25
DEVELOPMENT AND CONSERVATION
OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Because of the importance of riparian lands to
wildlife and fish, TVA has always had programs to
protect and enhance these resources. One of these
programs is addressed more completely in an?ther
paper at this symposium by Field and Allen.o
In
addition to these programs, TVA initiated in 1976
the natural heritage project as a means of furthering
its resource conservation efforts. This program
identifies opportunities to protect and enhance
unique or endangered species, unusual or critical
ecosystems, and areas having other natural or scenic
significance on TVA lands and other lands throughout
the Tennessee Valley.
This cooperative effort among
TVA and public and private organizations has resulted
in the identification of 33 significant natural or
scenic sites encompassing over 6,500 acres. While
these sites are not located entirely in riparian
zones, many of them contain some elements of riparian
habitats.
Two such areas are Raccoon Creek and North Sauty
Waterfowl Refuge.
The former area is a cove at
Tennessee River Mile 396 which serves as flyway for
a bachelor colony of the federally endangered gray
"bats (Myotis grisescens) that roost in a nearby cave.
This area also provides habitat for several plant
species, Shoenolirion cragewn (sunnybells) and
Ribes curvatum (gooseberry) of special concern in
Alabama.
The second area, North Sauty Creek, which
is located in Jackson County, Alabama, has 1,590
acres of floodplain forest, of which 1,260 acres
are classified as wetlands.
In addition to the aforementioned policies and
programs, TVA recently adopted a stream modification
policy which would have far reaching effects on streams
and their associated wetlands.
The focus of this
policy is stream alteration activities; ie., channelization, structural modification, and renovation,
which are known to cause substantial disruption of
streamside ecosystems (Brinson et al., 1981). This
policy provides in part:
The preservation of these ecosystems and
a halt to the continual diminishment of
total natural stream values in the Valley
and the Nation are important to ensuring
a healthful and productive human environment. Therefore, it is TVA policy to
avoid further channelization or environmentally degrading structural modification
or renovation of applicable water within
the Valley or other regions subject to TVA
actions except where both significant
public benefits are clearly established and
environmental damage can be avoided or
substantially mitigated.
An example of this policy and TVA's commitment
to nonstructural flood control measures is its
participation in a project with eight counties in
west Tennessee, known as the West Eight County Area
Stream Channel Restoration Program (TVA, 1982).
Briefly, the program consists of selective removal
Qf silt, sand, gravel plugs, log jams, snags, drift
accumulations, beaver dams, brush, downed trees,
and other debris from within the channel along
certain stream reaches to facilitate natural streamflow. Since the stream problems are due in part to
upland erosions and poor land-use practices, an
erosion control program also was initiated. The
West Eight Program demonstrates that stream
blockage problems can be corrected without sacrifying
the beneficial values of riparian habitats.
In conclusion, the TVA Act of 1933, Agency's
policies and programs, along with recent environmental legislation provides the basic fram~work
for protection and management of the riparian
ecosystem of the Tennessee Valley. Although TVA,
as well as others, will continue by necessity to
develop within the riparian zone, current policies
and practices of the Agency such as land use plans
and floodplain management, provide the means to
safeguard the riparian ecosystem from significant
diminishment of important riparian values.
LITERATURE CITED
Brinson, M. M., B. L. Swift, R. C. Plantico, and
J. S. Barclay, 1981. Riparian Eco~ystems:
Their Ecology and Status. U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (FWS) BX 5-81/17. Washington,
D.C. 154 pp.
Darnell, R. M., W. E. Pequegnat, B. M. James,
F. J. Benson and R. A. Defenbaugh, 1976.
Impacts of Construction Activities in Wetlands
of the United States. U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Ecological Research Series,
EPA-600/3-76-045, 393 pp.
Tennessee Valley Authority, 1981. Stream Renovation
Program - West Eight County Association of Soil
Conservation Districts. Environmental
Assessment. 31 pp.
Tennessee Valley Authority, 1981. Pickwick Reservoir
Plan, Volume I, Office of Natural Resources,
Knoxville, Tennessee. 57 pp.
Tennessee Valley Authority, 1983. Floodplain
Management: The TVA Experience. Floodplain
Management Branch, Office of Economic and
Community Development, Knoxville, Tennessee.
6R. J. Field and R. T. Allen. 1985. "Tennessee
Valley Authority's Management of Riparian
Zones to Benefit Wildlife," presented at the
North American Riparian Conference on Riparian
Ecosystems and Their Management-Reconciling
Conflicting Uses in April 1985.
26
U.S. Department of the Interior, 1980. The River
Inventory of the Southeastern United States.
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Services,
Atlanta, GA. 37 pp.