On October 11-13, 2002, the Teva Ocoee National Championships, an American Whitewater sanctioned event, will be held on the Ocoee River at the $26 million facility built for the 1996 Olympics and could mark the last event ever held at this premier whitewater venue. This event coincides with the expiration of a 5-year agreement to provide 20 releases annually for events, drafted and signed in 1996 by the TVA. The agreement intended to enable commercial outfitters in the region to expand their operation and encouraged event organizers to promote recreational events on the Upper Ocoee, celebrating this historic Olympic venue in the beautiful Tennessee Valley Region. The TVA has agreed to extend the agreement to include these last days for the Teva National Championships because of excess days generated as a result September 11 tragedy. After October 13, 2002, however, the publicly funded $26 million Ocoee Whitewater Center will sit on a dry riverbed except when outfitters pay a premium for rafting releases. The local river corridor community will also be faced with a constraint on its ability to grow economic benefits derived from tourism via events held on the Upper Ocoee River. This threat to future water causes great concern among the Tennessee Valley Region and it’s economic health, where hundred’s of thousands visitors come to recreate each year.
As a result, American Whitewater, non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation and preservation of America’s whitewater resources, has joined forces with other effected groups in an effort to influence TVA agreement decision as quickly as possible. Among these groups include, local Outfitters, America Outdoors, representatives from the U.S. Forest Service, the Tennessee Department of Environmental Conservation, Georgia Power, Copper Basin and Polk County economic development leaders. The “asks” of the outdoor retailers, event organizers and development leaders are reasonable:
1) American Whitewater, a major event organizer in the area, seeks to retain the current contract between the state and TVA and the legislation authorizing releases on the Middle Ocoee and that 10 of 20 annual days of “free” event water be made available for events on the Upper Ocoee.
2) Area outfitters ask that the TVA extinguish the newly established cost prohibitive fees and revert to those operable fees reflected in the original agreement.
3) Many stakeholder groups, including American Whitewater are supporting the USFS in their 1996 request for 74 free annual releases. This number of releases was shown to have a huge economic benefit to the region, have no environmental impacts, and negligible impacts on upstream lake levels.
In response, the TVA is currently conducting a Reservoir Operations Study that will look at many issues across the Tennessee Valley. The TVA is currently wrapping up the first step, “scoping”, meaning the gathering of information and input from interested and effected parties. (who would this include?: river users like boaters, barge folks, industry, environmentalists; lakeside homeowners and fishermen, local governments.) The purpose of “scoping” is to determine what topics the TVA should study and with what emphasis. The resounding theme in the results is that TVA needs to be a better steward and provide for non-power uses like recreation and environmental protection. TVA is now in the process of drafting an Draft Environmental Impact Statement based on scoping which represents the public’s last great chance to restore flows to the Ocoee River that will come for many years. That chance for public comment will come in the early spring of 2003.
American Whitewater and the organizers of the Teva National Championships urge visitors, Tennessee business and community representatives, surrounding states, boaters, hikers and outdoor enthusiasts alike, to join them in preserving the use of one of the most popular river venues in the United States. “It’s critical to the success of the event and the future of the Ocoee that we see participation from all surrounding areas.” says Karen V’Soske, Event Coordinator. “The loss of the Ocoee whitewater venue for competition is not only a disruption to the competitive circuit, but disappoints the hopes for river-related economic growth in the Ocoee region that was so widely supported during the 1996 Olympic Games.
For this Tennessee Valley Recreational hotspot, time is of the essence and for the region at large, economic health will be determined by the wisdom with which the TVA can make a decision.
The public can respond by signing onto a letter to Chairman McCullough of the Tennessee Valley Authority, urging him to consider his public responsibility to flow water in the upper Ocoee section.
For More information about the TVA / Ocoee Decision, please contact:
Kevin Colburn
American Whitewater
Conservation and Access Associate
(828) 252-6482
kevin@amwhitewater.org
Karen V’Soske
National Championship Event Organizer
419-877-9215
kvsoske@aol.com
Risa Shimoda
American Whitewater
Executive Director
(301) 589-9453
risa@amwhitewater.org
Tennessee Valley Authority
www.tva.gov
More information about the Teva Whitewater National Championships can be found online at www.americanwhitewater.org/events/twnc.