American Whitewater is asking for boaters to attend the Regional Resource Stewardship Counicl meeting on Thursday, October 24th to voice their opinion on the Upper Ocoee River. The RRSC is a steering committee for the TVA that inspired the Reservoir Operations Study. They are familiar with the Ocoee issue and have taken steps in the past to meet our interests. THEY ARE NOT THE TVA, they make recommendations to the TVA which the TVA will then consider.
We are asking boaters to follow up on the momentum of the National Freestyle Championships, and to demand that the TVA be held accountable for thier recent decision to remove the Ocoee from their Reservoir Operations Study. Interested boaters and other citizens should check out the various web postings on our page and the key points posted below for background. You are also encouraged to call the AW office at 828-252-6482, or cell at 828-712-4825.
Your voice is needed tomorrow at 11am in Knoxville, sign up early though or you may not get your 5 minutes to speak.
Regional Council to Begin Second Term
October 18, 2002 — The first meeting of TVA’s second-term Regional Resource Stewardship Council will be held October 23 and 24 in Knoxville.
The council was created to allow TVA to obtain the views and advice of stakeholders on the agency’s stewardship activities.
The agenda for the meeting includes an orientation to the second term of the council; a discussion of the planning, management, and use of TVA reservoir lands; and panel presentations and discussion on public land policies and practices of other agencies.
The meeting will be held at the Downtown Radisson, 401 West Summit Hill Drive, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday and 8:30 to 3 on Thursday.
The meetings are open to the public, and a public comment session is scheduled from 11 a.m. – noon on Thursday, October 24. TVA requests that public comments pertain to agenda topics of each meeting. (View the meeting agenda: http://www.tva.com/rrsc/agenda_10-02.htm)
Anyone wanting to make comments at the meeting should register at the door. Speakers are asked to limit their remarks to no more than five minutes. Up to an hour will be allotted for public comments, with participation available on a first-come, first-served basis. Handout materials should be limited to one printed page.
Anyone wanting to make comments at the meeting should register at the door. Speakers are asked to limit their remarks to no more than five minutes. Up to an hour will be allotted for public comments, with participation available on a first-come, first-served basis. Handout materials should be limited to one printed page.
Written comments may be mailed to the Regional Resource Stewardship Council, TVA, 400 West Summit Hill Dr. WT 11A, Knoxville, TN 37902-1499, or faxed to 865-632-3146. Comments may be made directly to council members through the RRSC Web site. For more information, call the council records officer at 865-632-2333.
Here are the key points regarding the Upper Ocoee issue:
1. The Upper Ocoee River is at risk of running dry.
Based on Management decisions made by theTennessee Valley Authority, the Upper Ocoee River may not flow in the future. The Upper Ocoee is the site of the 1996 Olympics, World Cup Slalom and American Whitewater Ocoee Rodeo freestyle events.
– Aside from two days of releases that are ‘left over’ from the cancelled 2001 World Championships due to 9/11/01, there will be no more releases scheduled for non-commercial recreation and events as there have been for the past six years.
– The ‘per customer’ fee charged to commercial outfitters will make it unaffordable for them to run rafting trips on the Upper Ocoee.
2. Economics support an Upper Ocoee with its water flowing.
TVA is choking off an important segment of the local economy – river-based tourism – by its refusal to share Ocoee river water. The economic impact of water used for whitewater recreation on the Ocoee outweighs the value of water used for power production by over 30 to 1.
§ Commercial rafting on the Upper Ocoee currently produces $210,000 per day. The cost to replace this power is only $6,650 for the equivalent 9-hour period.
§ Whitewater releases provide over 30 times more benefit for the local economy than does power generation.
§ Lost power cost per day
9.5 hr. release x 28,000 kw (Ocoee #3 power) x $0.025 KW/hr = $6,650 per whitewater release
Cost to TVA ratepayer:
$6,650 WW release / 8,000,000 ratepayers = $0.0008 per WW release
Annual cost to TVA ratepayer assuming 20 days of releases:
20 days x $0.0008 = $0.02 cents annually
[Calculations derived from USFS 1996 DEIS for the Upper Ocoee River Corridor Recreational Development
4. TVA absorbs the costs of providing recreation benefits to lake users, but insists that river users must pay for similar benefits. TVA maintains lake levels to enhance recreation at tributary reservoirs until August 1st at no charge to lake users.
· TVA estimated the cost of the lake improvement program to average $2 million annually in lost power revenues in 1990. (Tennessee River and Reservoir System Operation and Planning Review, 1990.)
5. The public supports an Upper Ocoee with its water flowing.
Members of the public want TVA to increase recreational opportunities. 34% of those who attended public meetings during the Spring of 2002 felt that recreation should be TVA’s top priority, while only 1% felt that it was a priority for TVA. Many of these respondents directly mentioned the Upper Ocoee as a concern. Conversely, 11% of attendees thought that TVA’s top priority should be power generation, while 48% felt that it was their current priority.
6. TVA has ignored the interests of the public.
TVA has made Management decisions that ignore the input of the Southeastern Tennessee economic community and the interest of the public. The only water releases that are planned for the Upper Ocoee in 2003 are the two days allocated in 2001 for the World Slalom Championships. Thereafter, TVA plans to release no more water for the use of private citizens. Separately, TVA plans to raise the levy for outfitter customers to $12.50, a level that cannot be regained sustainably by these businesses. Since they also have to meet minimum usage levels each year, this levy is certain to drive outfitters off the river and leave the river dry.
6. American Whitewater is asking citizens to help keep water flowing in the Upper Ocoee.
Ask the TVA Board of Directors to take responsibility for the regional economic data and voice of public opinion. We want TVA to provide water releases for public, non-commercial use and to establish a fair economic model with commercial outfitters on the Upper Ocoee that will be sustainable for the long term. We ask that citizens write to the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors and ask them to maintain the Olympic legacy and the public trust of the citizens of Tennessee and the Southeastern US to free the water that belongs to the Upper Ocoee.
>Contact Kevin Colburn, American Whitewater Access Associate at (828)712-4825 with any questions.