American Beautyberry spotted at the iJams Nature Center in Knoxville. Photo by Cynthia Rosenberry.

The problem of erosion along Grainger County’s lakefront shorelines is not a new one to the Tennessee Valley Authority TVA), the agency that owns and operates the Cherokee Dam in nearby Jefferson County.

Erosion due to rain, drought, along with public and private use of lands was a problem before the Cherokee Dam was built and it is still a problem today to a lesser degree, officials say. However, environmentalists say the reasons for erosion problems, may have changed as waterway usage and water level management has changed.

It has been suggested the cycle of erosion since the Cherokee Dam was built in 1942 is causing the reservoir to slowly fill with a thick sludge of sediment and may also be causing unsuitable plant-life to die along the edge of the reservoir, something which speeds erosion as well as causes the shoreline to be less hospitable to wildlife.

The erosion may also, one day, rob the region of a valuable source of power. The Cherokee Reservoir is deep enough that oxygen must be continuously pumped into the reservoir’s deep recesses in order to allow fish and other inhabitants to live at its depths.

Yet according to Patrick McCully, author of Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and Politics of Large Dams, large, aging dams have a disturbing history of eventually becoming obsolete because as the reservoir fills with sediment, water capacity decreases until they are unable to produce adequate power to supply their region. McCully explains the deterioration is inevitable as there is no way to entirely stop the erosion without major excavation.

The TVAis concerned about the erosion. On their website, they’ve offered advice to shoreline landowners encouraging them to help preserve their portions of the shoreline and stave off the erosion a while longer. They add that residents will also improve the view and property value for their shoreline residential property, they’ll help to maintain or improve the overall water quality of the reservoir, and they’ll restore a bit of much needed habitat for aquatic and marshland wildlife in the process.

TVA’s plan of attack is called “riparian [ie. shoreline] restoration,” and it can involve major or minor adjustments, depending upon the grade, soil constitution, and susceptibility to erosion for the area in question. Shoreline homeowners are advised to plant the water’s edge with species of marshland plants native to Eastern Tennessee. It may sound like a simple plan but finding their recommended plants may prove more difficult.

Any number of plants chosen at random could anchor the soil in place but very few plants may survive the alternately wet/dry cycle of the reservoir’s shoreline and are also certain not to disrupt the ecosystem. The following are just a few species that are both attractive, compatible to the sunny and wet/dry shoreline of the Cherokee reservoir, and are native to the East Tennessee region in particular:

• The Black Willow tree is a shrubbylooking tree expected to survive periodic flood conditions.

• Buttonbush is a summer-blooming bush that grows in standing water and has attractive white flowers that cluster in a ball.

• The American Beautyberry bush [shown] has lovely magenta berries in winter that birds love to eat.

• The Cardinal Flower sports small red flowers in the summer that attract hummingbirds and butterflies and is commonly spotted anywhere along Grainger County’s marshlands.

• Cattails are another common marshfriendly plant favored by wildlife although they may take over.

• River Cane is a species of grass often mistaken for bamboo. Like bamboo, its roots spread a dense network of rhizomes that deter erosion along shorelines. River Cane’s tough stems and canopy of foliage provide ideal protection from predators to all manner of wildlife.

• Arrowhead has tuberous roots that spread to secure the soil and provide food for a variety of aquatic life.

• Creeping Spikerush is just one of many native rushes that will provide cover for fish now flourishing but also hiding from all the waterfowl suddenly attracted to your shoreline habitat.

Those interested can call the TVA for recommendations and additional information related to riparian restoration or visit the Grainger Today website for an addendum of Internet resources, as well as links to nurseries that sell Tennessee native plants. Those who utilize these resources and still can’t find the recommended plant they are looking for, may encourage nurseries to carry them

For more information regarding riparian restoration, contact the: Holston-Cherokee- Douglas Watershed Team Susan B. Fuhr, Manager; E-mail: sbfuhr@tva.gov ; write Cherokee, Douglas, Nolichucky, and French Broad, 3726 E. Morris Boulevard, MOC 1AMOT Morristown, TN 37813-1270 , or call (423) 585-2120

Online Resources/Recommended Reading:

For major adjustment erosion control, consult:

Tennessee’s Erosion and Sediment Control Handbook

www.tennessee.gov/environment/wpc/sed_ero_controlhandbook

The TVA website contains a comprehensive list of recommended native plants for usage in riparian restoration:

www.tva.gov/river/landandshore/stabilization

Search for photos of the above recommended plants via TVA’s Shoreline Stabilization Plant Database:

www.tva.com/river/landandshore/stabilization/plantsearch.htm

Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and Politics of Large Dams,

by Patrick McCully, Zed Books, London, 1996

www.irn.org/basics/ard/index.php?id=sr-sediments.html

A Recommended Brochure: Landscaping with Native Plants in East Tennessee [pdf]

www.tneppc.org/Landscaping/Landscaping_Guide_East.pdf

If you’d like to purchase Tennessee-native plants*, a list of Tennessee native plant growers can be found online at the website of writer, Margie Hunter, author of the highly recommended “Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee.”

www.gardeningwithnativeplants.com/link.html

*Note: Stanley’s Greenhouse of Knoxville and Pope’s Nursery of Maryville also carry limited varieties of native plants.