So much for TVA “Balancing Guides”
The TVA has this concept of a Balancing Guide to make sure that no lakes are treated unfairly when drawing water from the lakes to provide water downstream. I have done an analysis of Blue Ridge, Nottely and Chatuge.
In this table, I have displayed the elevations for Summer Pool, Downstream, Full Pool Depth and current level for the three lakes. I also included the flood storage capacity for each to show the three lakes have similar water storage capacity. I then compared the current lake levels (less the elevation of the bottom of the lake) to the full summer pool. As you can see, Chatuge with 93% of full pool has about 7% more elevation than Blue Ridge and Nottely with 87% of full pool.
I drove by Chatuge last weekend and it did not show nearly the “high and dry” conditions of Blue Ridge and Nottely.
I forgot to mention one point in my analysis. If Lake Blue Ridge were treated the same as Chatuge (apply the 93% of full pool) the lake level would have been 1676 on 8/25. That’s 8 feet higher!
Lake Nottely would be at 1765 - 10 feet higher.
Why does Chatuge get the special treatment?
You’re right. In my earlier post, I had not actually driven by Chatuge in a while (I see Nottely and Blue Ridge irregularly throughout the summer).
I suspect Lake Chatuge has more houseboats than Nottely and Blue Ridge combined
I have updated my analysis as of 11/5/07. Yes, we are still in a drought but it looks like Lake Blue Ridge is contributing more than its share of water to the Tennessee River Valley.
These were the percentages of Summer pool on 8/25:
Blue Ridge 87%
Chatuge 93%
Nottely 87%
Percentages of Summer pool on 11/25:
Blue Ridge 82% down 5%
Chatuge 90% down 3%
Nottely 86% down 2%
Yes,
You are right because TVA generates as much power as possible with the water released to meet minimum flow requirements, but no additional water is released for the specific purpose of hydro power generation.
Sam
Addiction Recovery Georgia