Until the 1930s the Tennessee River was virtually uncontrollable. In dry seasons it shrank to a mere trickle, and in time of heavy rainfall it flooded lowlands and washed away fertile soils. Croplands were continually eroded, and very little effort was made toward soil conservation. Although the Tennessee Valley was rich in natural resources, its inhabitants remained poor, and there was almost no industrial development.
To help lift the region out of poverty, a corporation named the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was created by the United States government on May 18, 1933. Its chief purpose was to harness the Tennessee River and its tributaries for flood control and navigation. A second purpose was to bring electrification to the area. Over the decades TVA has done both, but the secondary purpose electrification soon assumed primary significance. In bringing electricity to the seven-state area it serves, the TVA is the largest utility firm in the United States.
Region and River
The Tennessee River begins about 4 miles (6 kilometers) above Knoxville, Tenn. It flows for 652 miles (1,049 kilometers) and empties into the Ohio River at Paducah, Ky. The drainage basin of the river and its tributaries covers about 41,000 square miles (106,000 square kilometers). The region served by the TVA includes all of Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia.
The TVA operates 51 dams on the river and its tributaries. These dams control floodwaters in the Tennessee Valley and help regulate floodwaters in the Lower Mississippi Valley. The dams also govern the flow in the river system, creating a deepwater navigation channel that is usable year-round.
Electric power is generated at TVA facilities that include 38 hydroelectric stations, 12 coal-fired thermal plants, and 2 nuclear power plants. In addition, the TVA buys the power produced by several hydroelectric plants that are operated by the Army Corps of Engineers. Power is provided to nearly 3 million customers in an area of approximately 80,000 square miles (207,000 square kilometers).
Management and Finance
The TVA is an independent corporate agency of the federal government. It is administered by a three-man board of directors appointed by the president of the United States and approved by the Senate. Board members serve for nine years and alternate in office as chairman.
About 37,000 people were employed by the TVA in the mid-1980s. The administrative headquarters are in Knoxville, Tenn., with other principal offices at Chattanooga and at Muscle Shoals in northwestern Alabama. Regional offices are situated throughout the valley, and there is a liaison office in Washington, D.C.
Most of the money for the original construction of dams and steam plants came from federal appropriations. Some property notably Wilson Dam and the Muscle Shoals center was transferred from other federal agencies when the TVA was created. Wilson Dam had been built by the United States Army during World War I to produce power for munitions manufacturing. Federal funds have also been used for most of the construction and operating expenses of the TVA's non-power-producing programs such as navigation, flood control, and forestry. Fertilizer and agricultural programs have been financed by both federal aid and revenues from selling fertilizer.
The electric power program pays for its operating costs and much of its new construction through the power that is sold. Its finances are kept entirely separate from the TVA's non-power functions. In 1959 Congress authorized the TVA to sell electric-power bonds and notes to the public. Funds from this source now provide most of the money needed to construct new power-generating facilities and transmission lines. (In the 1980s rising costs of nuclear plant construction and a lessened demand for electricity caused the TVA to cut back on its plans for new nuclear plants.) From its earnings the TVA power system is required to repay about 90 percent of the federal money invested in power facilities, plus an annual dividend on the portion unrepaid.
Flood Control and Navigation
All dams in the system are managed as a unit, with primary emphasis on flood control. This has proved quite effective, though it has not totally removed the threat of flooding from the valley. The TVA has also built navigation locks into each of its nine main dams, deepened and otherwise improved the channels, and encouraged both local governments and private businesses to develop port facilities along the river.
Before the TVA was organized, navigation on parts of the Tennessee River was nearly impossible. Along one 188-mile (302-kilometer) stretch, for example, the channel averaged less than 2 feet (0.6 meter) deep. The minimum channel depth created under TVA control is 11 feet (3.4 meters). Water released by the TVA also aids navigation on the Mississippi River.
Commercial traffic on the Tennessee River has increased markedly since 1933. At that time it totaled about 33 million ton-miles (48 million metric ton-kilometers) per year. (A ton-mile is one ton of freight carried one mile.) By 1980 traffic had grown to more than 5 billion ton-miles (7.3 billion metric ton-kilometers). Coal, coke, grain, petroleum products, chemicals, forest products, pig iron, and steel are the chief commodities shipped on the river.
In December 1984 a long extension of the Tennessee River route was added with the completion of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. Built by the Army Corps of Engineers, not the TVA, this 234-mile (377-kilometer) system of locks and canals connects with the Tennessee River in the northeastern corner of Mississippi and flows southward to connect with the Tombigbee River at Demopolis, Ala. The waterway shortens the distance from some midwestern cities to the Gulf of Mexico by about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers).
Electric Power
Only 3 percent of all Tennessee Valley farms were supplied with electricity in 1932. Today all have access to it. The generating capacity of the TVA's power system exceeds 32 million kilowatts more than any other utility in the United States. Not only did the agency bring inexpensive electricity to many farms and communities that did not have it, but it also significantly promoted industrial development throughout the region. While the TVA still provides electricity at lower costs to users than do most other utilities, its costs have risen sharply. From the early 1970s to the mid-1980s, costs to consumers increased by about 300 percent.
Supplying such a large region with electricity has drawbacks. The use of vast amounts of coal led to devastating strip mining of much land and to serious air pollution problems. By the late 1970s the TVA had become one of the worst polluters of both air and water in the nation. In 1978 the agency began an extensive program to reduce the sulfur dioxide emissions from its coal-fired plants. It has also undertaken reforestation programs to undo some of the strip-mining damage and programs to improve the quality of rivers and streams.
Agriculture and Forestry
The TVA's fertilizer research center is located at Muscle Shoals. The fertilizer program combines chemical research on new fertilizers with education in their use among farmers. The Muscle Shoals laboratory and plants have produced many new types of fertilizer with greater nutrient yield. The center's educational programs are geared to the needs of farmers in all parts of the nation.
Much of the valley is in forest, and most of the forested land is privately owned. The reforestation program has brought better control of water runoff on the land, curbed erosion, and improved the economic potential of the area.
Dams, Lakes, and Recreation
About half of the TVA dams serve multiple purposes. They aid in flood control, navigation, and the production of electric power. The highest dam is the 480-foot (146-meter) Fontana on the Little Tennessee River in North Carolina. The nine dams on the main river have navigation locks. The TVA controls water releases on all tributary dams.
Some of the dams have created sizable lakes and have helped open the region to recreation. One of the largest recreational sites is the Land Between the Lakes, a long wooded peninsula 40 miles (64 kilometers) long between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley on the Tennessee-Kentucky border. Wheeler Lake in northern Alabama is another recreational area.
Other Benefits
The TVA has promoted economic development within the region, though serious pockets of poverty remain. The average annual income of each person in the valley in 1933 was $168, only 45 percent of the national average. In the early 1980s the average had reached $7,368, about 75 percent.
There have been other benefits as well. Diseases such as malaria were eradicated, and infant mortality rates were reduced. Schools and roads were built, and communities obtained new water-supply and sanitation systems.
