CHAPEL HILL, Tenn. (WTVF) — On any given weekend, you can find kayakers and fishermen enjoying the natural beauty of the Duck River. But there's been a battle brewing for years between the people who enjoy spending time on the water, and the utility companies that need the water to keep their customers.
This week, a compromise was finally reached between the two vested interests.
How we got here
This past summer, the Duck River had double trouble. An extreme drought lowered water levels. At the same time, several water utility companies drew even more water out of the watershed as they tried to keep up with the demand of their growing communities.
The result — a shoreline usually teaming with life became a graveyard of dead organisms.
"Picking up all the fresh dead animals, mussel shells," Don Hubbs, a malacologist, told us last summer. "They’re left high and dry. If they can’t move to the water or they can’t burrow down to it, then they get desiccated."
The Southern Environmental Law Center took the water rights case to court.
Terms of agreement
Under the new settlement, if we have another drought, utility companies will have to adopt voluntary water conservation measures and monitor their own levels of water loss.
"Fix leaking pipes, so we’re not pumping river out of the water and then allowing it to leak into the ground unused," said George Nolan, the Tennessee director of the Southern Environmental Law Center. "If they are experiencing loss that’s above the level in the permit, they’re required to come up with a plan as to how they’re going to fix the leaks in their system."
A few months back, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee also signed an executive order that creates a planning partnership for the Duck River. It will allow conservationists and utility companies to meet together to discuss a way to strike the right balance. "Work together for the common goal of protecting the river," explained Nolan.
Nolan calls this agreement a first good step, but hopes negotiations with utility companies can go further in the future. He cited a good practice from the Maury County Water System.
"Irrigation systems for grass be separately metered, so that those systems can be turned off during a severe drought and that doesn’t impact the water that’s coming into the house," said Nolan.
Other risks for the Duck River
George Nolan says he's also worried about two legislative proposals up on Tennessee's Capitol Hill, that could make conditions on the Duck River worse.
One would reclassify how the state defines and protects a wetland. This bill was under consideration last year before being stymied in the House committee system. It's been refiled for this year. According to Tennessee's legislative website, a new amendment to the bill is pending but has not been filed yet.
The other legislation would allow the construction of a landfill along the banks of the Duck River in Maury County.
NewsChannel 5 will monitor the progress of both bills this legislative session.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at chris.davis@newschannel5.com.
With new technology comes new ways to help people. This story shows a great use of AI that is starting to be rolled out in Tennessee. This one can help those who may be blind, deaf or neurodiverse navigate the Tennessee State Library and Archives from an app on their smart phone.
-Lelan Statom
