Updates to Eight Reservoir Land Management Plans and the Comprehensive Valleywide Land Plan

The TVA Board of Directors has approved final land management plans for Chickamauga, Fort Loudoun, Great Falls, Kentucky, Nickajack, Normandy, Wheeler and Wilson reservoirs.

On August 23, 2017, the TVA Board of Directors approved the proposed Reservoir Land Management Plans (RLMPs) for TVA-managed public lands on eight reservoirs in Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee: Chickamauga, Fort Loudoun, Great Falls, Kentucky, Nickajack, Normandy, Wheeler and Wilson. The TVA Board also approved the proposed changes to the Comprehensive Valleywide Land Plan (CVLP) land use allocation target ranges, which were set forth in the Natural Resource Plan in 2011 and intended to aid decision making across the entire TVA reservoir system. The CVLP target range changes are needed to incorporate land use allocation decisions of the eight RLMPs.

In July 2017, TVA completed a final environmental impact statement (EIS) addressing the eight RLMPs and updates to the CVLP allocation ranges. TVA develops RLMPs to help facilitate management of the 293,000 acres of public land under its stewardship. The EIS was initiated in February 2016 to consider alternative land management plans for the eight reservoirs that are surrounded by 138,221.4 acres of TVA-managed land.

The RLMPs update previous RLMPs for Kentucky (originally created in 1985), Wheeler (1995), Nickajack (1990) and Chickamauga (1989) reservoirs. Fort Loudoun and Normandy reservoirs were planned under TVA’s old Forecast System. TVA has never developed an RLMP for Great Falls Reservoir, and only a portion of Wilson Reservoir was planned in 1996. This land planning effort brings all planned land under the Single Use Parcel Allocation methodology which assigns one of seven land use zones to each individual parcel.

The RLMPs contain detailed descriptions of the environment around each reservoir and descriptions of each parcel of land addressed in the plans, as well as the parcel’s land use. These RLMPs are analyzed by TVA in the Final EIS. The eight RLMPs and Final EIS are available under the “Documents” section below.

Reservoir Land Management Plans

The land use allocations of specific TVA parcels are presented in maps that can be found by following the links below. Land is allocated into broad categories or “zones” including Zone 1 (Non-TVA Shoreland), Zone 2 (Project Operations), Zone 3 (Sensitive Resource Management), Zone 4 (Natural Resource Conservation), Zone 5 (Industrial), Zone 6 (Developed Recreation) and Zone 7 (Shoreline Access).

Generally, the RLMPs are based on current land usage, existing land rights (easements, leases, etc.), public needs, the presence of sensitive resources and TVA policies. Land use allocations to each of these zones have been determined with consideration of the social, economic, and environmental conditions around the reservoirs.

• Chickamauga Reservoir Land Management Plan
• Fort Loudoun Reservoir Land Management Plan
• Great Falls Reservoir Land Management Plan
• Kentucky Reservoir Land Management Plan
• Nickajack Reservoir Land Management Plan
• Normandy Reservoir Land Management Plan
• Wheeler Reservoir Land Management Plan
• Wilson Reservoir Land Management Plan

Click on the map below to view the land plan zones.

View larger map.

Please note, no decision regarding purchase or use should be made based upon these maps. Those interested in the allocations should apply to TVA and obtain permits or land agreements before making property purchases or commitments.

Updated CVLP Allocation Ranges

The TVA Board of Directors has approved updates to the 2011 CVLP allocation ranges.

Since the CVLP target ranges were first established in 2011, TVA has conducted more thorough reviews of land parcels on the eight reservoirs and found that in many cases the 2011 CVLP allocation estimates did not accurately reflect actual uses of the land on the eight reservoirs. Because the 138,221.4 acres of reservoir lands on these eight reservoirs account for almost half of TVA's 293,000 acres of reservoir land, incorporating these allocation corrections into the eight RLMPs necessitated minor revisions to the CVLP target allocation ranges.

The revisions to the CVLP target ranges do not reflect a change to decisions made by TVA in its Natural Resource Plan. TVA remains committed to implementing its Natural Resource Plan and meeting the goals and objectives of the CVLP.

Read more about the CVLP allocation range updates.

Environmental Review and Public Involvement

On March 3, 2016, TVA published a Notice of Intent in the Federal Register to conduct an environmental review of the eight RLMPs. TVA solicited input from the public on the issues and potential environmental impacts of the proposed RLMPs and invited the public to review each reservoir’s proposed parcel usage on the maps provided above and submit comments for review.

The public scoping period ended on April 4, 2016. In July 2016, TVA completed a Scoping Report which summarizes the outreach effort and contains the comments and concerns raised by the public and other agencies.

On December 2, 2016, TVA released a Draft EIS to analyze the environmental consequences of the proposed RLMPs. TVA accepted public comments on the Draft EIS and the eight RLMPs until January 31, 2017. During the 60-day public comment review period, TVA held five public meetings to provide information to the public and to solicit further feedback.

The Final EIS was released on July 21, 2017. The TVA Board of Directors approved the RLMPs and updates to the CVLP target ranges at its August 23, 2017 meeting in Knoxville, Tennessee. TVA issued a Record of Decision on September 12, 2017.

Documents

Notice of Intent

Scoping Report

Multiple RLMP Draft EIS (December 2016 – Entire document 19.5 mb)

Multiple RLMP Final EIS

(July 2017 – Entire document 30.1 mb):

• Volume I (Environmental Impact Statement)
• Volume II (Chickamauga RLMP)
• Volume III (Fort Loudoun RLMP)
• Volume IV (Great Falls RLMP)
• Volume V (Kentucky RLMP)
• Volume VI (Nickajack RLMP)
• Volume VII (Normandy RLMP)
• Volume VIII (Wheeler RLMP)
• Volume IX (Wilson RLMP)

Record of Decision

Contacts

For more information about the environmental review contact:

Matthew Higdon
Manager, National Environmental Policy Act
Tennessee Valley Authority
400 West Summit Hill Dr., WT 11D
Knoxville, Tenn. 37902
(865) 632-8051
[email protected]

For more information about Reservoir Land Management Plans or the planning process contact:

Kelly R. Baxter
Senior Program Manager, Reservoir Land Planning
Tennessee Valley Authority
400 West Summit Hill Dr., WT 11D
Knoxville, Tenn. 37902
(865) 632-2444
[email protected]