Melton Hill 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. Melton Hill RLMP was approved by the TVA Board of Directors in April 1999.

Melton Hill Reservoir is an impoundment of the Clinch River, which runs through Anderson, Knox, Loudon, and Roane counties in east Tennessee. The reservoir extends almost 57 miles upstream from Melton Hill Dam to Norris Dam.

The Melton Hill Dam and reservoir were named for Melton Hill, a high knob near the dam on which the U.S. Coast Guard and Geodetic Survey established a triangulation station in 1884. Melton Hill is the only dam in the tributary reservoir system with a navigation lock; this lock has a 75 by 400-foot chamber and a maximum lift of 60 feet.

The Melton Hill Dam and Sustainable Recreation Area is equipped with solar panels and wind turbine installations to generate clean, renewable electricity. The area offers year-round camping plus sheltered picnic tables and pavilions. Boat ramps below and above the dam give boaters access to Watts Bar and Melton Hill lakes. Roads on both sides of the river are popular for walking, jogging and bike riding.

Scope

The scope of the Melton Hill RLMP is 2,578.3 acres of TVA public land. The Melton Hill 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 159 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.

Melton Hill 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note that parcel descriptions are representative of the time in which the plans were written; some information may be out of date such as available facilities or names of commercial operations.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 Maps (PDF)

View Larger Map

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 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 Melton Hill Reservoir since the 1999 RLMP was completed.

Allocation Changes (PDF)

Land Allocation Acreage

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

^*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.

Melton Hill 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.