
Guntersville 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. Guntersville RLMP was approved by the TVA Board of Directors in September 2001.
Guntersville Reservoir is an impoundment of the Tennessee River formed by Guntersville Dam, which is located at Tennessee River mile 349.0. Guntersville Reservoir is situated in Jackson and Marshall Counties in Alabama and Marion County in Tennessee.
Guntersville is a world-class recreation area for bass-fishing. It has been ranked in the top 10 of the Bassmaster 100 Best Bass Lakes and has hosted some of the nation’s premiere fishing tournaments. The area below the dam offers unique opportunities for day hiking. A moderately challenging trail takes you past a hardwood wetland that provides habitat for dragonflies, waterfowl, frogs and salamanders.
Scope
The scope of the Guntersville RLMP is 40,236 acres of TVA public land. The Guntersville RLMP contains a regional overview, information about the environment around the reservoir and descriptions of each parcel of land. Guntersville Reservoir property is divided into 322 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.
Guntersville 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note that parcel descriptions are representative of the time in which the plans were written; some information may be out of date such as available facilities or names of commercial operations.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)
How to Use the Viewer Map (PDF)
Allocation Changes
After approval of an RLMP by TVA, all future uses of TVA public lands on that reservoir must then be consistent with the allocations within the RLMP. In accordance with TVA policies and guidelines, allocation changes are only allowable under limited circumstances. The attachment at the link below describes the land use allocation changes that have occurred on Guntersville Reservoir since the 2001 RLMP was completed.
Land Allocation Acreage
TVA land around Guntersville Reservoir has been allocated for certain land uses as summarized in the table below.
Allocation Designation* | Acreage | |
Zone 2 | Project Operations | 5,079.5 |
Zone 3 | Sensitive Resource Management | 10,259.8 |
Zone 4 | Natural Resource Conservation | 22,321.4 |
Zone 5 | Industrial | 326.9 |
Zone 6 | Developed Recreation | 1,703.7 |
Zone 7 | Shoreline Access | 542.6 |
Total | 40,236.0 |
*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.
Guntersville Reservoir Environmental Review
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.