Easier to Explore

TVA Launches Redesigned Permit and Recreation Pages for Clearer, Faster Guidance.

Across the Valley region, recreational opportunities abound along more than 11,000 miles of TVA-managed shores.

Each year, more than 565,000 recreational guests enjoy these waterways, contributing nearly $12 billion to local economies.

It’s a vital asset that TVA works to manage and protect through section 26a of the TVA Act which provides an approval process for building permanent structures on TVA waterways.

Now, a redesigned shoreline and dock permits website makes it easier to build, maintain, or manage docks and other structures along the Tennessee River and its 63 tributaries.

“This redesign lets applicants find everything they need in one place, and it improves communication at every step,” Rebecca Hayden, director of Public Land Management said. “It creates a better first conversation and a smoother, more reliable process for everyone.”

Along with a new landing page for identifying aquatic plants and an updated trails guide, these digital resources are helping more people explore the outdoors.

Shoreline Liaisons

As part of the TVA Act, Section 26a gives TVA the responsibility to approve permanent shoreline and reservoir structures to ensure they don’t conflict with navigation, flood control, transmission or other public interests.

During her 25 years with TVA, Hayden has worked closely with property owners, marinas, campgrounds, industrial partners, transportation agencies and navigation operators to regulate development along TVA‑managed waters.

Her team serves as liaisons between TVA and stakeholders, helping applicants understand TVA’s mission while guiding them through a federal permitting process.

“For many people, we’re the first face of TVA they ever meet,” Hayden said. “Section 26a permitting is often their very first interaction with the agency, and our goal is to make that experience clear, consistent and supportive from the beginning.”

This year, Public Land Management partnered with TVA Communications to streamline the shoreline permitting website into a single, accessible landing page. The online application system now features consistent page layouts, a natural flow and is more user friendly.

Standardized staff touchpoints like emails, phone calls and site visits ensure a consistent applicant experience from start to finish, and a new post-permit feedback survey accompanies every final decision to gather real-time feedback.

With more incremental enhancements on the way, Hayden said clearer communication and regular engagement between TVA and stakeholders will continue to strengthen TVA’s broader mission of managing the river system for a wide range of public benefits.

“I see alignment in all the efforts of Public Land Management to TVA’s broader mission,” Hayden said. “Our contributions of the past, to the management of today and moving forward contributes to the economic value in each river mile.”

‘A Huge Step Foward’

Beyond shoreline permitting, TVA teams have recently collaborated to improve several of its most-used outdoor recreation resources.

TVA's Environment and Stewardship team strives to make it easy for people to get outside and enjoy all the region has to offer. Clay Guerry, TVA Senior Program Manager, notes that one of the challenges is finding the information needed about recreation opportunities.

"One of the easiest barriers to outdoor recreation for us to remove is access to information,” Clay said. “Anything we can improve that makes information more available, understandable and digestible helps more people get outside.”

The TVA Trails Guide also received a major redesign, introducing vibrant visuals, intuitive drop-down menus and sorting and filtering tools that let users explore trails by difficulty, amenities, activity type, proximity and more.

The redesigned trail guide, which Clay calls “a huge step forward,” launched around National Trails Day – giving TVA teams an opportunity to encourage people to get outside and experience the health and well-being benefits of outdoor recreation.

While on this streak, working with communication partners and internal subject-matter experts, TVA also enhanced the Aquatic Plant Identifier page to make it more visually accessible and easier to navigate.

The updates help residents, boaters and anglers quickly identify aquatic species and understand which plants help or hinder healthy reservoir ecosystems.

Clay hopes these improvements help more people discover – or rediscover – the Valley region.

“If people can quickly find what they’re looking for, that gets them outdoors faster,” he said. “Less time behind the screen finding information, and more time actually experiencing nature.”