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This is the story of a wood trough. Not just any wood trough, but a 14-by-20-foot trough that runs 4.7 miles and is a part of a power generation system that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
It is called the Flume Line, a human-made channel for water, in the form of an open declining gravity chute whose walls are raised above the surrounding terrain. It is above the Ocoee River between Copperhill and Cleveland, Tenn.
The Ocoee flume line was constructed in 1913 by East Tennessee Power Co. to carry water from the Ocoee No. 2 diversion dam to the Ocoee No. 2 powerhouse, where it drops the water 250 feet with enough velocity to power the water turbines there.
The pine flume line with regular maintenance lasted for more than 100 years. However, in the 1970s the TVA, which had obtained all power on the Ocoee in the 1930s, was re-evaluating its power system.
By 1976, the wood flume line had deteriorated, and the TVA chose to close the flume line, creating an uninterrupted flow from the Ocoee No. 2 dam and producing exceptional whitewater rafting and kayaking. Rafting companies from Nantahala and other places were expanding, and a new local industry was born.
The TVA planned to demolish the flume, but preservationists and older engineers succeeded in having the dam and flume line placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The flume line remained in place.
TVA’s Environmental Impact Statement at the time said closing Ocoee “would not be noticeable in power rates.” At 21 megawatts the dam was producing 7/10,000 of its power.
In 1983, the TVA rethought the flume line, reconstructing it with treated wood, again diverting the water from the original riverbed, literally leaving the rafting industry high and dry. This was a reversal of its earlier statements now that money was involved.
They demanded reimbursement for the power lost if water was allowed to flow on natural riverbed for rafters. The TVA based its cost on the highest possible rate for equivalent coal fired power.
The TVA’s image was tarnished with the greed label after its confiscation of land along the Little Tennessee for the Tellico Dam using imminent domain. In one instance, a landowner was forced to leave by the sheriff and sell 5 acres of land to the TVA for $12,800 per acre.
One-half acre was covered by the lake. The remaining 4½ acres were sold later by the TVA to a land developer for $300,000 per acre. That money grab would work in favor of the Ocoee rafters in their water battle. The TVA was interested only in power generation, not recreation on the Ocoee.
The rafting industry was rescued by U.S. Sen. Howard Baker and Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander, who obtained a 35-year agreement with the TVA for a fee, obtaining easements to treat the Ocoee as a state park, allowing for restrooms and access facilities.
Today, rafting opportunities are on a regular schedule of 34 days a year on the Upper Ocoee Olympic course (usually on weekends) and five days a week in the summer on the Middle Ocoee. The river is utilized by 24 rafting companies. More than 750 people raft the Ocoee per day during peak times.
The original estimate of rebuilding the flume line was supposed to be $12 million, but eventually ran into more than $40 million. The amount of power generated from Ocoee No. 2 is only a minute part of the TVA’s power output. One cost analysis revealed the rebuilding of the flume line was not cost effective.
With Class III and IV rapids on the Ocoee, it was selected as the best location for kayaking for the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, the only in-river course used for Olympic slalom. A $28 million special course was constructed and a reception center built, with original plans to restore the riverbed following the close of the Olympics.
However local governments protested the demolition of an obvious asset, and the course was left intact with the visitor center becoming the Ocoee Whitewater Center managed by the U.S. Forest Service and hosting competitive kayaking events.
Today, slalom athletes no longer train on the Ocoee since the U.S. National Whitewater Center opened near Charlotte on 1,300 acres adjoining the Catawba River. This facility provides a less expensive and more regular schedule for training. The water creating the Class II to Class IV rapids there is generated by seven 620 horsepower pumps.
The Ocoee Whitewater Center burned on April 26, 2022. It has not been rebuilt, although the surrounding area and trails are again open to the public. More than 5 million people have rafted the Ocoee, and the industry provides more than 600 jobs, bringing in an estimated $43 million in associated revenue.
The Ocoee is ranked as one of the top 10 whitewater rafting sites in the United States. The TVA’s original agreement expired in 2019. Under the new agreement, the State of Tennessee paid the TVA for 15 years of recreational water on the Ocoee.
Rep. Dan Howell sponsored the Ocoee River Recreation and Economic Development Fund Act, which was signed by then-Gov. Bill Haslam, creating a board to manage interests in the Ocoee River, and collecting a 10% tax on rafting outfitters’ profits for a development fund and repayment of the state’s investment.
Haslam allocated $11.8 million of the state budget to help reimburse the TVA for lost revenue.
The TVA manages the river, though it runs through Cherokee National Forest. The Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation and a representative of Hiwassee/Ocoee Scenic River State Park have votes on the new board.
Meanwhile some of the best rafting and kayaking in is available on the Ocoee, 27 miles from Murphy and less than 10 minutes from the North Carolina state line.
Bruce Voyles’ local history column runs every other week in the Cherokee Scout. Email him at RoadsLessTraveled@cherokeescout.com.