Tennessee Valley Authority
Watts Bar Reservoir
Contents of this page
Ecological health rating
Watts Bar Reservoir rated fair in 2006 monitoring by TVA.
Swimming advisories
The state of Tennessee has not issued any advisories against swimming in Watts Bar Reservoir.
Fish consumption advisories
The state of Tennessee has issued several fish consumption advisories for Watts Bar Reservoir because of PCB and mercury contamination.
Related Links
More about Watts Bar Reservoir
Sport
fishing ratings
Get the facts on the availability of important sport species.
Spring sportfish survey results
View the results from TVA’s latest black bass population survey.
General information
Monitoring
river conditions
Find
out how TVA evaluates the river system’s ecological health
and suitability for human use.
Ecological health rating
TVA monitored Watts Bar Reservoir annually from 1991 through 1994 to establish baseline data on the reservoir’s ecological health under a range of weather and flow conditions. Watts Bar is now evaluated every other year.
The overall ecological health condition for Watts Bar Reservoir rated a “low fair” in 2006, comparable to results from previous dry years (2000 and 2002). The reservoir ratings for Watts Bar have fluctuated between “high fair” and poor and have generally followed reservoir flow conditions. The indicator most responsive to flow is dissolved oxygen.
Watts Bar Reservoir Ecological Health Ratings, 1994-2006
Click chart for raw data.
The table below shows the ratings for individual ecological health indicators at Watts Bar in 2006. These ratings are briefly explained in the paragraphs that follow.
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Dissolved oxygen
Dissolved oxygen rated poor at the forebay and good at the mid-reservoir monitoring location. Low dissolved oxygen (<2 mg/L) in the lower water column at the forebay, primarily during June and July, resulted in a poor rating. The worst dissolved oxygen conditions occurred in 2000, 2002, and 2006 as a result of the reduced flows through the reservoir during dry conditions. TVA has installed aeration equipment to add oxygen to the deep water above Watts Bar Dam and to improve conditions immediately downstream Learn more about these improvements here.
Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll rated poor at the forebay and mid-reservoir in 2006 because average chlorophyll concentrations were high at both monitoring locations. Annual average chlorophyll concentrations have fluctuated through time at the forebay, with no specific trend through time. Chlorophyll has shown an overall trend of increasing concentrations at the mid-reservoir site since monitoring began in 1991.
Fish
The fish assemblage rated good or "high fair" at all locations except the Clinch inflow which rated fair. The fish community rated fair at the Clinch inflow location because of the fair diversity of fish and a high composition of tolerant individuals. Better fish diversity at the other locations resulted in higher ratings.
Bottom life
Similar to most previous years, bottom life rated poor at the forebay and Tennessee inflow locations and fair at the mid-reservoir location. Historically, bottom life rated poor at the Clinch inflow location. However, in 2004 and again in 2006, bottom life at the Clinch inflow rated fair due to an increase in the density and diversity of organisms in the samples collected from the reservoir bottom.
Sediment
In 2006, lindane was detected for the first time in sediments collected from the forebay and resulted in a fair rating. Sediment quality rated good at the mid-reservoir location because no PCBs or pesticides were detected, and no metals had elevated concentrations. Low levels of PCBs and chlordane, a pesticide previously used to control termites and crop pests, were detected in some previous years at both locations.
Swimming advisories
TVA has not issued any swimming advisories for Watts Bar Reservoir.
E. coli bacteria levels in samples collected in 2007 were within the state of Tennessee’s guidelines for water contact with the following exceptions.
- Roane County Park Beach: Exceeded the single sample maximum 1 of 10 sampling events
- Caney Creek Informal Swim Site: Exceeded the single sample maximum 1 of 10 sampling events
- Crab Orchard Creek Canoe Access Site: Exceeded the single sample maximum 1 of 10 sampling events
- Melton Hill Dam Reservation Tailwater Boat Ramp near Hwy 95: Exceeded the single sample maximum 1 of 10 sampling events
The locations sampled in 2007 were:
Site Name |
Location |
County |
State |
|---|---|---|---|
Jackson Island Unpaved Boat Ramp |
Wolf Creek off Piney River |
Roane |
TN |
Spring City Park Boat Ramp |
Tennessee River Mile 533R, Piney Creek Mile 3.0 |
Rhea |
TN |
Melton Hill Dam Reservation Tailwater Boat Ramp near Hwy 95 |
Clinch River Mile 23.3 |
Roane |
TN |
Watts Bar Dam Reservation Headwater Beach |
Tennessee River Mile 530.1 |
Rhea |
TN |
Rhea Harbor Beach |
Tennessee River Mile 532.5R, Wolf Creek Mile 1.7 |
Rhea |
TN |
Wolf Creek Informal Camping Area Swim Site on Peninsula |
Wolf Creek off Piney River |
Rhea |
TN |
Fooshee Pass Day Use Area Beach |
Tennessee River Mile 538.0L, Wann Branch Mile 2.0 |
Meigs |
TN |
Hornsby Hollow Campground Beach |
Tennessee River Mile 540.0L, Rowden Branch Mile 1.2 |
Megis |
TN |
Red Cloud Campground Beach |
Tennessee River Mile 542.1R |
Rhea |
TN |
Eden on Lake Beach |
Tennessee River Mile 542.3R |
Rhea |
TN |
Whites Creek Public Access Area Canoe Access Site |
Tennessee River Mile 545.0R, Whites Creek Mile 6.1 |
Rhea |
TN |
Lakeside Resort Beach |
Tennessee River Mile 545.0R, Camp Creek Cove off White Creek Mile 3.7 |
Rhea |
TN |
Arrowhead Resort Beach |
Tennessee River Mile 545.0R, Rector Branch Mile 1.1 |
Rhea |
TN |
Bayside Marina Beach |
Tennessee River Mile 548.5L, Gordon Branch Mile 1.4 |
Roane |
TN |
Roane County Park Beach |
Tennessee River Mile 562.3R, Caney Creek Mile 3.0R |
Roane |
TN |
Caney Creek Informal Swim Site |
Tennessee River Mile 562.3R, Caney Creek Mile 3.0R |
Roane |
TN |
Riley Creek Day Use Area Beach |
Tennessee River Mile 570.0L, Riley Creek Mile 0.5R |
Roane |
TN |
Riley Creek Campground Beach |
Tennessee River Mile 570.0L, Riley Creek Mile 0.5R |
Roane |
TN |
Boy Scouts of America Camp Buck Toms Swim Site |
Tennessee River Mile 550R |
Roane |
TN |
Crab Orchard Creek Canoe Access Site |
Crab Orchard Creek Mile 10.6L |
Morgan |
TN |
Kingston Steam Plant Boat Ramp |
Clinch River Mile 2.7 R |
Roane |
TN |
Euchee Marina Beach |
Tennessee River Mile 539.9L |
Meigs |
TN |
Campground on the Lakeshore Beach |
Tennessee River Mile 540.0L, Rowden Branch Mile 1.8 |
Meigs |
TN |
Fish consumption advisories
The state of Tennessee has issued several fish consumption advisories for Watts Bar Reservoir because of PCB contamination. Striped bass, catfish, and striped bass-white bass hybrids caught in the Tennessee River portion of the reservoir should not be eaten. Additionally, no fish caught in the Poplar Creek Embayment should be eaten due to PCB and mercury contamination.
There is a precautionary advisory for largemouth bass, white bass, sauger, carp, and smallmouth buffalo caught in the Tennessee River portion of the reservoir and catfish and sauger caught in the Clinch River arm. A precautionary advisory means pregnant women, nursing mothers, and children should not consume the fish species named, and all other individuals should limit their consumption to no more than one meal per month.
TVA collected channel catfish and largemouth bass from the reservoir for tissue analysis in the autumn of 2006. The results, which were similar to those of previous years, will be provided to state agencies in Tennessee. TVA plans to collect and analyze channel catfish from the forebay in autumn 2007 for selected pesticides and PCBs.
