Localwaters

The Little Tennessee River rises in the Blue Ridge Mountains, in the Chattahoochee National Forest in northeast Georgia’sRabun County. After flowing north through the mountains past Dillard into southwestern North Carolina, it is joined by theCullasaja River at Franklin, then turns northwest, flowing through the Nantahala National Forest along the north side of theNantahala Mountains and past Lauada. It crosses into eastern Tennessee and joins the Tennessee River at Lenoir City, 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Knoxville.

The lower river is impounded several places by sequential dams, some created as part of the Tennessee Valley Authority(TVA) system, forming a string of reservoirs in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee down to its confluence with the Tennessee. Near the state line between North Carolina and Tennessee, it is impounded by the 480 feet (146 m) highFontana Dam, completed in 1944, forming Fontana Lake along the southern boundary of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is also impounded by Cheoah Dam in North Carolina, and by Calderwood and Chilhowee dams in Tennessee. The reservoirs provide flood control and hydroelectric power.

Calderwood and Cheoah Dams divert water through short tunnels slightly downstream of the dams themselves to hydroelectric generators. Chilhowee has power generators built straight into the dam itself. Some water is also diverted from the nearby Santeetlah Dam on the Cheoah River to power another hydroelectric generator at the Santeetlah Powerhouse. This water is brought to the Little Tennessee River through 7 miles (11 km) of tunnels through the Great Smoky Mountains. Chilhowee, Calderwood, and Cheoah Dams and the Santeetlah Powerhouse were originally built by Alcoa to power the aluminum plant at Alcoa, Tennessee. To ensure efficiency in operation, Alcoa coordinates the operation of its hydro system with TVA, making sure that reservoir and river water levels are safe for recreational use (primarily boating and fishing) and that proper flows of water continue down the river.

The final impoundment is Tellico Dam, which is just above its mouth into the Tennessee River at Lenoir City, Tennessee. It creates Tellico Reservoir. The dam does not have its own hydroelectric generators but serves to increase the flow through those at nearby Fort Loudoun Dam on the Tennessee by means of a canal which diverts much of the flow of the Little Tennessee. The plan to build the dam was the subject of environmental controversy during the 1970s regarding the snail darter, an endangered species.^[2] It was the first major legal challenge to the Endangered Species Act.

Just a peak at it’s history because it’s amazing how historic this little river really is:

Several Cherokee Middle towns, including Nikwasi, Jore, and Cowee were located along the river’s North Carolina section.The river was also home to most of the major Overhill Cherokee towns, the most prominent of which included Chota, Tanasi, Toqua, Tomotley, Mialoquo (near Rose Island), Chilhowee (at the river’s Abrams Creek confluence), Tallassee (near modern Calderwood), Citico, and Tuskegee (adjacent to Fort Loudoun).

Euro-American traders were visiting the Overhill towns along the Little Tennessee by the late 17th century, and there is some evidence that Hernando De Soto and Juan Pardo passed through the Little Tennessee Valley in 1540 and 1567, respectively. In 1756 the English built Fort Loudoun, located at the river’s confluence with the Tellico River. The fort has been reconstructed as an historic site. Two early American sites are located along the Little Tennessee? the Tellico Blockhouse, an outpost at the river’s Nine Mile Creek confluence, and Morganton, a river port and ferry town near modernGreenback that thrived in the early 19th century.The Hazel Creek section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, located on the north shore of the river’s Fontana Lake impoundment, was home to a substantial Appalachian community in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Description above: courtesy Wikipedia Wiki/Creative Commons License for description above only:http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Please consider showing your appreciation of Little Tennessee River by picking up some litter during your next visit, many hands make light work.