The Tennessee Valley Authority is putting out the reminder for this Memorial Day Weekend for people to be cautious on area waterways, especially in the near the TVA Reservoirs.
The TVA has been releasing water from many of it’s dams recently in an effort to balance out water that has accumulated due to heavy rainfall. Luckily, the River Forecast Center is showing that summer pool levels are back within normal levels, including at Kentucky Dam and Senior Manager Darrell Guinn says they’re not expecting any changes to that, even with expected rain fall.
The TVA is still moving water through the river system, so they advise caution if you’re going to be on the water for Memorial Day Weekend, especially if you’re on or near any of the reservoirs.
Guinn says they’ll be monitoring water levels all summer and working to keep the system balanced, whether that be through flood mitigation efforts or other routine maintenance.
In an average year, TVA prevents about $246 million in flood damage in the TVA region and along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers through the operation of its dams. TVA operates conventional hydroelectric generating facilities at 29 of its dams. These facilities have the capacity to generate 3,538 megawatts of electricity and hydroelectric generation made up approximately 10 percent of TVA’s energy mix in 2023.