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"Water quality problems have plagued the Duck River throughout most of the 20th century. Phosphate mining and heavy clear cutting devastated much of the river and its watershed. The naturally thin soils were not well suited for crop production, and horse and cattle are the main agricultural products. The majority of point source impacts were located in Columbia, Tennessee, located about mid-basin. In 1971, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) dammed the upper Duck River and completed the Normandy Dam up river of Shelbyville, Tennessee. Seasonable variable water releases and low dissolved oxygen concentrations in water released by the dam affected the river for the next 115 miles to Columbia, Tennessee, where point source release impacted the basin's lower half.
"In 1973, TVA began turning its attention to the construction of a new dam just above Columbia. The 35-mile-long pool of the Columbia Dam project would be much larger than the just-completed Normandy. In fact, the dam's completion would have inundated the best remaining riverine habitat in the basin. It also would have placed the only remaining habitat for two federally listed mussels (birdwing pearlymussel, Lemiox rimosu, and the Cumberland monkeyface, Quadrula intermedia) directly under the new pool. This would have resulted in certain extirpation for both species.
"With the completion of the dam lurking in 1977, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a Biological Opinion condemning the dam's completion. In 1979, TVA placed the completion of Columbia Dam on hold, and in 1995, determined the project could not be completed." (Return of the Natives, 2004)
"When construction was halted in 1983, the Columbia project was about 45 percent complete. The concrete portion of the dam was about 90 percent complete, and the earth-filled section was about 60 percent complete. The river had been moved to flow through a 600-meter (2,000-foot) long diversion channel located along the east side of the work site, and a dike had been built to keep normal stream flow out of the spillway construction site. Approximately 46 percent of the land required for the reservoir (5,200 of 11,140 hectares [12,800 of 27,500 acres]) had been acquired, and approximately half of the 72 kilometers (45 miles) of roads affected by the reservoir had been relocated.
"Present status of sensitive resources in the project area includes the presence of at least four federally endangered species, unusually diverse aquatic and terrestrial communities, and a number of important archaeological sites. During the past decade, the Columbia
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Project lands have become important public hunting grounds in Middle Tennessee. At the same time, increasing numbers of people are building homes and businesses around the area.
"On February 25, 1995, TVA issued a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on alternative uses for the land acquired as part of the Columbia Project" (Federal Register Environmental Documents, 2005).
On November 16, 2000, the Tennessee Office of Attorney General issued an opinion on whether the land acquired by TVA for the Columbia Dam and Reservoir Project could be returned to the original owners upon transfer to the state. The opinion stated the following: "The lands acquired by TVA for the Columbia Dam and Reservoir Project could be returned to the original owners or their heirs upon transfer to the State of Tennessee only in a limited circumstance. TVA would have to transfer the lands to the State without deed restrictions that would preclude returning the lands to the original owners or their heirs, and the State would have to make a determination that the lands are surplus real property" ("TVA/Columbia Dam Project Lands," State of Tennessee).
"On May 13, 2002, Chickasaw Gov. Bill Anoatubby dedicated the former Columbia Dam property with a new name, Yanahli Wildlife Management Area. Yanahli is a Chickasaw word meaning to flow, as in a river flows. Tennessee officially accepted the deed for the 12,800 acres from the Tennessee Valley Authority on August 14, 2001. The land is managed by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency for wildlife, recreation, and natural and cultural preservation" (Columbia Lands, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation).
References
Columbia Lands Recreation and Natural Area.
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. Last
available from the World Wide Web <http://www.state.tn.us/environment/
Federal Register Environmental Documents.
Tennessee Valley Authority. Use of Lands
Required for the Columbia Dam Component of the Duck River Project and
Future Water Supply Needs in the Upper Duck River Basin. June 22,
2005. Last available from the World Wide Web <http://www.epa.gov/
Return
of the Natives: Community
Guide for Restoration of Fish and Aquatic Species. Southeast
Watershed Forum. January
1, 2004. Last
available from the World Wide Web <www.southeastwaterforum.org/pdf/
"TVA/Columbia Dam Project Lands." State of Tennessee Office of the Attorney General, Opinion No. 00-173. Nov. 16, 2000.
"The Farm is a community of families and friends living on three square miles in southern Middle Tennessee. The Farm was started in 1971 to establish a strongly cohesive, outwardly directed community. The founders wanted to have a positive effect on the world through action and example. Businesses, including a co-op, an excavating company, and a book publishing company, and nonprofit organizations also base their operations at The Farm. Several members of The Farm serve on the board of The Swan Conservation Trust, which works at preserving the Big Swan Creek watershed."
(Text used from promotional materials about the site.)
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