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Great Falls Reservoir

Great Falls Reservoir Land Management Plan

Reservoir Land Management Plans (RLMPs) effectively guide land use approvals, private water use facility permitting and resource management decisions on TVA-managed public land.

Great Falls Reservoir is one of eight reservoirs included in the Multiple RLMPs project which was approved by the TVA Board of Directors on August 23, 2017.

Great Falls Reservoir is an impoundment of the Caney Fork River formed by Great Falls Dam, which is located between McMinnville and Sparta, Tennessee. Great Falls Reservoir is situated in Warren and White counties in middle Tennessee.

Whitewater rapids below the Great Falls Dam are favorite spots for canoeing and kayaking and have been the site of national and international paddling events. The dam and tailwater are surrounded by Rock Island State Park, which offers hiking, camping, swimming and boating.

Scope

The scope of the Great Falls Reservoir Land Management Plan (RLMP) is the 362.4 acres of TVA public land shown in the maps below. The Great Falls RLMP contains a regional overview, information about the environment around the reservoir and descriptions of each parcel of land. The reservoir property is divided into parcels, and each parcel is assigned a single land use allocation zone. Descriptions of the allowable land uses within each land planning zone are available here.

Great Falls Reservoir Land Management Plan

Maps

Use the GIS Viewer Map to find individual parcels and land use allocations for TVA reservoir property.  Click on individual parcels to find out more information about a piece of TVA property.  Please note that parcel descriptions are included in the interactive map viewer for convenience, but may have been altered from the original description due to character length restrictions.  Please reference the appropriate Reservoir Land Management Plan for the complete parcel descriptions.  Also, please note that parcel descriptions are representative of the time in which the plans were written; some information may be out of date such as available facilities or names of commercial operations.

Download Map (PDF)

Reservoir Land Management Plan Viewer:

Land Allocation Acreage

TVA land around Great Falls Reservoir has been allocated for certain land uses as summarized in the table below.

Allocation Designation*Acreage
Zone 2Project Operations19.0
Zone 3Sensitive Resource Management0
Zone 4Natural Resource Conservation0
Zone 5Industrial0
Zone 6Developed Recreation343.4
Zone 7Shoreline Access0
Total362.4

*Zone 1 is Non-TVA Shoreland with TVA land rights and does not change as a result of the lands planning process.

Environmental Review

TVA’s land planning methodology incorporates the environmental review process established under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA requires federal agencies to consider the effects of their proposed projects on the human and natural environment before final decisions are made.

Final Environmental Impact Statement

It is important to note that RLMPs are programmatic plans that designate potential allowable land uses as defined in the land use zone definitions and do not involve specific land actions. TVA would complete an appropriate site-specific environmental review prior to proposed development or activity on TVA public land.