Take Action for Lake Chatuge’s Communities

Tell TVA that our communities are worth the money

It’s been a rocky two weeks here in the Lake Chatuge watershed since the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) published its official public notice about the Chatuge Dam Safety Modifications on April 21, with high levels of fear and anxiety on the part of local residents and business owners. Since MountainTrue’s last Lake Chatuge action alert on April 18, TVA has answered the question about why this project is slated to take so long: the risk to people’s lives downstream is very low. It is up to us now to tell TVA that the risk to people’s livelihoods, both upstream and downstream, is very high! This project must be expedited, and no expense spared to ensure that the level of summertime drawdown is minimized.

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Lake Chatuge is unique among the 47 reservoirs TVA owns and manages. In fact, Lake Chatuge is very different from the other five reservoirs in the Southern Blue Ridge in that it’s the lifeblood of Towns County, Georgia. Towns County’s county seat — the City of Hiawassee — is literally “on the lake,” bounded by miles of shoreline on its western side. Also, unlike other mountain reservoirs like Hiwassee, Apalachia, and Fontana, the vast majority of Lake Chatuge’s 132-mile shoreline is privately owned, with many campgrounds, marinas, and tourist lodging. For better or worse, our communities’ economies on both sides of the state line are critically tied to having a relatively full lake during the summer months.

The alternatives that TVA initially proposed all involve deep year-round drawdowns that could last four to six years. The proposed very deep drawdown — up to 10 feet lower in winter and up to 20 feet in summer — could jeopardize the City of Hiawassee’s public drinking water supply system by reducing the volume of water available for use. These levels would also leave marinas and docks on dry ground. And the length of the drawdowns would decimate our tourist economy.

Subsequent discussions with TVA by Sole Commissioner Cliff Bradshaw and Towns County’s U.S. Representative, Andrew Clyde, have revealed another alternative that should be added to the Environmental Impact Study (EIS). It involves modifying Alternative E to include building a cofferdam around the spillway repair area. A cofferdam is an enclosure built within a body of water to create a dry working environment so that the work can be carried out safely. TVA would still build a new gate-controlled concrete chute spillway and rehabilitate the existing spillway. While this proposal will no doubt be the most expensive alternative, MountainTrue believes that the cost to our communities far exceeds the project cost. TVA must consider this action to sustain reasonable summer lake levels!

Even if you have already submitted comments on this project, you can submit more if you have new and different substantive concerns or suggestions to express. You are also encouraged to participate in one of the public meetings being held in early May. Click here for the most updated information about when and where these will be held.

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires that TVA also consider social and economic impacts, not just impacts to the lake itself. Tell TVA that the currently proposed alternatives will cost our communities too much and ask that a modified Alternative E be analyzed in the EIS.

Take Action

Resources: links & diagrams

a) Map/links to all TVA reservoirs: https://lakeinfo.tva.com/web/sites/sites_ie2_map_only.htm

b) Guidelines for writing substantive comments: Citizens’ Guide to NEPA

c) TVA’s Project page: https://www.tva.com/newsroom/regional-mountain-dams-safety-initiative/chatuge-dam-safety-modifications

d) TVA project NEPA timeline:

e) Modified Alternative E:

Public Open House Opportunities

Virtual Meeting on May 6, 2025, from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. ET

Format: Dam Safety and NEPA presenters with a Q&A session. Register here.

May 8, 2025, in Clay County, North Carolina, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. ET

Location: Clay County Schools Cafeteria (Behind Hayesville Middle School Gym/adjacent to Hayesville High School) – 205 Yellow Jacket Drive, Hayesville, NC 28904

Format: Informational booths and materials. Access to subject matter experts. No formal presentation.

May 13, 2025, in Towns County, Georgia, from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. ET

Location: Towns County Recreation Center, 150 Foster Park Rd. Young Harris, GA 30582.

Format: Informational booths and materials. Access to subject matter experts. No formal presentation.

Virtual Meeting on May 15, 2025, from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. ET

Format: Dam Safety and NEPA presenters with a Q&A session. Register here.

Sample comments:

We welcome you to copy and paste the text below as a basis for your comments, but we also encourage you to personalize your comments to make them unique to you. You can do this by adding a paragraph about why Lake Chatuge is important to you.

Dear TVA,

Lake Chatuge is unique among the many reservoirs your organization operates, even when compared to other mountain reservoirs. It is the lifeblood of Towns County, Georgia. Hiawassee, Georgia, is literally “on the lake,” bounded by miles of shoreline on its western side. Also, the vast majority of Lake Chatuge’s 132-mile shoreline is privately owned, with many campgrounds, marinas, and tourist lodging. Our communities’ economies on both sides of the state line are critically tied to having a relatively full lake during the summer months. While I understand that these repairs are needed, I am concerned that we cannot survive a years-long deep drawdown.

Please consider a modified Alternative E that includes building a cofferdam around the spillway repair area to keep workers safe while allowing for more reasonable summer water levels. While this proposal will no doubt be the most expensive alternative, I believe that the cost to our communities without it justifies the expense.

Other concerns that I have about an extended deep drawdown include:

Impacts to the City of Hiawassee’s drinking water supply, which not only serves Hiawassee residents and businesses, but a majority of businesses in the Hwy 76 corridor and some around other parts of the lake, as well.
Impacts to water quality and aquatic life in the lake.
Impacts to wildlife, including wading birds and waterfowl, as well as threatened and endangered species like bald eagles, bog turtles & green pitcher plants, the latter two of which are found in marshy shallows that could be negatively impacted by an extensive drawdown.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment.

Take Action: Submit Your Comment

Resources & more info

Links, diagrams & public open house dates + locations

Click here

Take Action

MountainTrue’s Helene Cleanup Crews: FAQ

Have you seen one or more of our cleanup crews in action? We’ve answered some frequently asked questions here so you can learn more about them:

Who are the cleanup crews?

The cleanup crews you may see working in/around your local waterways are led by MountainTrue’s River Cleanup Coordinator, Jon Stamper. Cleanup crews are comprised of MountainTrue volunteers and our paid workforce. These paid workers operate cleanups throughout the Helene-affected areas in WNC. They work to remove debris and restore riverbanks. If you’re interested in applying to be a part of MountainTrue’s cleanup crews or have questions, please reach out to cleanup@mountaintrue.org.

Where do y’all work?

We’re hosting river cleanups across WNC. If you’d like to volunteer with us, find an upcoming cleanup on our events calendar – advance registration is preferred and greatly appreciated!

What happens to the trash & storm debris y’all collect from the cleanup sites?

All debris and trash are removed by MountainTrue as quickly as possible. At times, we may make piles of trash over several days. We will remove everything we have collected before moving to a new site. We follow county guidelines when disposing of the trash we’ve collected from waterways. When possible, we make every effort to recycle or repurpose what we pick up. If our crews find important items in the storm debris, we also work to identify and return lost items to their owners.

How can we support this work?

Donate to our MountainStrong Recovery & Resilience Fund, sign up to volunteer with us, and support your WNC Riverkeepers! You can follow MountainTrue and our four Riverkeepers on Facebook & Instagram:

MountainTrue: Instagram & Facebook
Broad Riverkeeper David Caldwell: Instagram & Facebook
French Broad Riverkeeper Anna Alsobrook: Instagram & Facebook
Green Riverkeeper Erica Shanks: Instagram & Facebook
Watauga Riverkeeper Andy Hill: Instagram & Facebook

Take Action to Protect the Little Tennessee River

The Little Tennessee River is home to an incredible diversity of life: over 100 fish species alone, including some found nowhere else in the world. The river and its adjacent greenway are also a beloved recreational resource for Macon County residents and tourists alike. But over the past few weeks, the banks of the river have been under assault by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contractors, removing hundreds of trees, many of which were still alive. Take action now to prevent further damage to the river!

Take Action

While large-scale debris removal continues to be a high priority in many parts of Western North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the Little Tennessee River did not experience those same impacts; only normal flooding. Apart from a few localized areas, like the Cullasaja River across from Walmart, there is no need for disaster recovery-type debris removal in Macon County waterways. And yet, contractors started near Tryphosa Road in Otto and have been working their way down the river, removing trees and debris from the river channel and banks in areas where no flooding impacts occurred.

Native trees and shrubs along waterways are vital for preventing erosion, providing shade for our coldwater fisheries and wildlife habitat. Wood is also important for streams — it provides habitat for fish, salamanders, and aquatic insects, backwater areas for wood ducks and other waterfowl, and can reduce the velocity of the water during a storm event.

Erosion that will undoubtedly happen as a result of this work will contribute to more flooding and land loss in future storms and will negatively impact fish, freshwater mussels, and other aquatic animals.

The Little Tennessee River continues to be negatively impacted by overzealous removal of trees and wood by contractors who are under the oversight of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the request of the Macon County government. Ask US Army Corps of Engineers Emergency Management Branch Chief George Minges and Macon County Fire Marshal Jimmy Teem to ensure that future work is limited to only Helene-related debris!

Thank you for supporting a healthy Little Tennessee River!

Take Action

More info & important insight

Read wildlife biologist Jason Love’s Letter To The Editor, published in The Franklin Press on April 23, 2025.

Click here

View Photos

Learn More + Get Involved: Lake Chatuge Spillway Repair Project

TVA to hold public meetings about a multi-year, year-round drawdown of Lake Chatuge

As we reported in our April e-newsletter, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced the launch of an Environmental Impact Statement study of potential impacts of a continuous, years-long deep drawdown of Lake Chatuge to rehab the spillway at Chatuge Dam. TVA assures everyone that there is no immediate safety issue at Chatuge, but the potential risk to the spillway in a rare large storm event exceeds TVA’s risk tolerance level based on industry standards. Therefore, it must be repaired to protect homes and communities along the river downstream.

The MountainTrue team has been learning as much as possible about the proposed alternatives since the announcement was made on March 28. Like many of you, we have questions about the need for such a (a) deep drawdown, and (b) lengthy period of time to complete the work. After we’re able to review the information that will be published in the Federal Register on April 21, we will provide talking points based on our analysis.

In the meantime, we hope you will mark your calendars and be able to attend at least one public meeting either in person or online. The in-person meetings will be open-house style – like the parrot feather meeting last year – with no presentation and no group question-and-answer session. The public comment period will run from April 22 to May 28, 2025.

Public Meetings Schedule:

May 6, 5:00-6:00 p.m.

May 15, 5:00-6:00 p.m.

Virtual Meetings: subject matter expert presenters with a Q&A session

Links will be available at: tva.com/nepa

May 8, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

In-person – Open House

Clay County Community Services Building

25 Riverside Circle, Hayesville, NC 28904

May 13, 5:00-7:00 p.m.

In-person – Open House

Towns County Recreation Center

150 Foster Park Rd., Young Harris, GA 30582

Even though this is an Environmental Impact Statement, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires that TVA also consider social and economic impacts, not just impacts to the lake itself. MountainTrue’s mission includes a commitment to healthy communities! We care about and will advocate with an eye on the cumulative environmental, social, and economic impacts.

Click here to read more about the needed safety modifications.

Western Region Watershed Outreach Coordinator

Murphy, NC

Apply Now

Position Summary

The Western Region Watershed Outreach Coordinator position serves rural communities and provides programmatic, field, and fundraising support for MountainTrue’s Clean Water Program in far Southwestern NC and North GA. Based in MountainTrue’s Western Regional Office (WRO) in Murphy, NC, the WRO Watershed Outreach Coordinator will interact with community members and volunteers on several levels including recruiting, training, educating, and organizing for water quality monitoring and watershed health. The WRO Watershed Outreach Coordinator must understand the importance of attention to detail in science and provide good quality assurance and control in both field and lab practices. The WRO Watershed Outreach Coordinator must be comfortable working in both field and office settings, individually or with a team.

The MountainTrue Watershed Outreach Coordinator is:

Organized – enjoys managing a variety of projects & timelines, with self-directed systems and smooth execution of tasks needed to meet goals.

Analytical – capable of using scientific principles in data collection and analysis with a high level of attention to detail.

Engaging – adept at building relationships in-person or virtually and working with diverse people (e.g. youth, retirees, rural, urban, different cultural backgrounds, and people with varying levels of education or income).

Versatile – a problem-solver with the ability to make decisions in a changing environment and anticipate future program needs.

Loves Southern Blue Ridge Mountain waterways and is hopeful about our future.

Key Responsibilities

Water Quality Monitoring & Data Management

Manage and expand volunteer water quality sampling programs, including Georgia Adopt-A-Stream, Swim Guide, and microplastics
Manage data and review regularly to determine most impacted waterways; conduct further testing to determine pollution source; and work with the regional and/or program director to develop and implement a remediation strategy.
Recruit/train volunteers and promote sediment pollution reporting using the Muddy Water Watch website/app.
Review NPDES data in the region to ensure compliance and work with the regional and clean water directors to push for improvements, especially during the permit renewal process.
Manage the summer water quality intern

Education / Outreach / Engagement

Help publish the annual State of the River report/presentation for the western region
Plan and implement an annual volunteer appreciation event
Organize the Lake Chatuge Shoreline Cleanup
Lead efforts to promote improved water quality through education and recreation

Fundraising

Recruit sponsors for the Swim Guide program & Lake Chatuge Shoreline Cleanup
Help secure auction items and raffle prizes for the Watershed Gala
Assist with western region fundraising events
Research and assist in the development of grant applications

Qualifications

Required Skills and Experience

Completion of at least a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Health/Science, Biology, Wildlife/Natural Resources Management, or a related field.
Valid driver’s license and dependable personal vehicle.
Excellent written and oral (including public speaking) communication skills. Must be willing to regularly use email as a primary communication tool.
Familiarity with Microsoft Office and Google Suite programs and applications.
Available on some nights and weekends for events and outreach.
Committed to equity, inclusion, and social justice principles.

Location & Travel

This is a hybrid position with 1-3 days per week (depending on the season) required to be in the Western Regional Office in Murphy, NC. MountainTrue utilizes frequent virtual meetings and phone calls. This position requires fairly extensive daytime travel within southwestern NC and north GA with occasional longer day trips to other MountainTrue regions; travel costs are covered by the organization.

Compensation

This is a full-time 40 hr/week position starting at $48,000. Benefits package includes 20 vacation days per year; 12 holidays; sick, parental, and bereavement leave; sabbatical after five years; health insurance; simple IRA with employer contribution of up to 3%.

How to apply

No longer accepting applications – application deadline has passed

Email a cover letter, resume, and three references to jobs@mountaintrue.org. The subject line should read: “WRO Watershed Outreach Coordinator.” The cover letter should address your relevant skills/abilities and work experience and answer the following questions:

Why do you want to be MountainTrue’s western region watershed outreach coordinator?
What is your favorite waterway and why is it important to you?
What familiarity do you have with living and/or working in rural communities?

The deadline for applications is April 24, 2025. The projected start date is July 7, 2025.

2025 Holman Water Quality Award Winner: Johnny Strawn

Johnny Strawn of the Hanging Dog Community of Cherokee County, NC, is the 2025 recipient of the Holman Water Quality Stewardship Award.

Originally from Morgantown, WV, Johnny Strawn attended NC State University in Raleigh, NC, where he met his wife, Pam. After graduating with degrees in conservation and wildlife biology, Johnny began working for what was then the USDA Soil Conservation Service during which time Johnny and Pam moved to Cherokee County, NC. He served as District Conservationist in Cherokee and Clay counties for nine years and they fell in love with the area. So in 1982, instead of moving on with USDA, he and Pam opened Hanging Dog Valley Nursery, a wholesale nursery specializing in native plants.

Johnny is a founder of Murphy River Walk & Canoe Trails, serving as the project manager for eight years. He received the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce’s Citizen of the Year award in 2013 for his volunteer work on the River Walk.

Johnny has served on the board of directors for the John C. Campbell Folk School, the Cullowhee Native Plant Conference, and the Hiwassee River Watershed Coalition (now MountainTrue). He also served on the board of the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee and Mainspring Conservation Trust for 13 years. As the first Hiwassee watershed board member of the land trust, Johnny was very instrumental in the expansion of land conservation efforts beyond the Little Tennessee River corridor in Macon County.

During his time on the land trust board, Johnny and Pam began to better understand the value of conservation easements; in 2024, they put the finishing touches on a 150-acre conservation easement on their own property, a combination of seven separate tracts which over decades they melded into one cohesive piece of land.

Upon being notified that he’d been selected to receive this award and expressing gratitude for the honor, Johnny was quick to acknowledge Pam’s role in all of the accomplishments we are attributing to him. “None of this happens without Pam,” he said.

Each year, we present the Holman Water Quality Stewardship Award to the person or group who has done the most to sustain good water quality in rivers, lakes, and streams in the upper Hiwassee River watershed of Towns and Union counties in North Georgia and Cherokee and Clay counties in North Carolina. The award is named for Bill Holman, a lifelong conservation advocate currently serving as Senior Advisor to the Conservation Fund in NC. The Holman Award is sculpted by David Goldhagen of Goldhagen Blown Art Glass, whose studio is located on the shores of Lake Chatuge near Hayesville, NC.

MountainStrong Hurricane Recovery Fund