Business owners around Boone Lake worry they might be left high and dry this summer with the Tennessee Valley Authority’s sustained drawdown of the lake.
The Johnson City Press reported that TVA has announced that water levels will remain low this summer while crews work to find the source of a leak under the earthen embankment that is part of the Boone Dam system. In a press conference last week, John McCormick, TVA vice president of safety, river management and environment, said the agency would likely sustain the Boone Reservoir waters lower for at least a year while it works to find and repair seepage around the hydroelectric dam.
That puts water levels roughly 30 feet below summer levels.
A fishing tournament and a speedboat race have already been canceled. One marina is developing an RV park and campsite to cope with the absence of boating.
The local economy will lose money with fewer opportunities for boating, said Gary Mabrey, CEO of the Johnson City/Washington County Chamber of Commerce.
“This will have a great deal of impact on the folks who come here to recreate and who have businesses out there,” Mabrey said. “When you take away an asset like that that’s not going to perform for the better part of the business year, I don’t know if you could quantify that.”
But not all areas of the lake are too low for boats as one Rockingham Marina owner, Doug Sams, said the water is deep enough in his boatyard.
Topics Tennessee
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