US Army Corps of Engineers BUILDING STRONG®

Management of the

Cumberland River System

Benjamin L. Rohrbach, P.E. Hydrology & Hydraulics Branch Chief

Nashville District

Tennessee Silver Jackets Meeting Old Hickory Lock and Dam 09 April 2014

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Agenda

Background History and Authorizing Legislation Authorized Purposes The Water Management Challenge Water Management Program Flood Operations Protecting the Lower Ohio and Mississippi Summary

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Background

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US Army Corps of Engineers Division Boundaries

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Great Lakes & Ohio River Division District Boundaries

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Nashville District River Basins & Boundaries

Lieutenant Colonel John L. Hudson

Commander and District Engineer

Nashville District

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Cumberland River Basin ► Drainage area – 17,913 mi2

► Total length – 694 miles System of 10 multi-purpose projects

► Flood Damage Reduction • 5.3 M acre-feet of flood storage • > $2 B in flood damages prevented ($115 M/yr) • 77 % of drainage area above Nashville is controlled

► Hydropower • 9/10 projects have hydropower • 914 MW capacity from 28 hydropower turbines

► Navigation • 380 miles of navigable waterway (4 locks) • 795 miles on TN River (10 locks)

► Recreation • 5 Nashville District projects in top 25 nationally • 31.3 M visitors last year (> $700 M economic impact)

► Environmental Stewardship • Environmental restoration projects • Tremendous mussel and fish diversity • Home to two world record fish

Cumberland River Basin Reservoir System

Project Flood Control

Storage (acre-feet)

Wolf Creek 2,094,000

Dale Hollow 353,000

Center Hill 762,000

J. Percy Priest 350,000

Barkley 1,472,000

Total 5,031,000

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History and Authorizing Legislation

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Historic Flood 1926-1927

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Historic Flood 1937

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Low Water on the Cumberland River

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Flood Control Act of 1938: PL 75-761 ► Wolf Creek (construction finished in 1952) ► Dale Hollow (1953) ► Center Hill (1951) ► J. Percy Priest (1970) ► Three Islands ► Rossview ► Devil’s Jump

River and Harbor Act of 1946: PL 79-525 ► Celina ► Cordell Hull (1974) ► Old Hickory (1957) ► Cheatham (1959) ► Barkley (1966)

Flood Control Act of 1960: PL 86-645 ► Laurel (1977)

Flood Control Act of 1965: PL 89-298 ► Martins Fork (1978)

Authorizing Legislation

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Authorized Purposes

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Congressionally Authorized Project Purposes

Project Flood Damage Reduction

Commercial Navigation Hydropower Recreation

Wolf Creek Dam

Dale Hollow Dam

Center Hill Dam

J. Percy Priest Dam

Cordell Hull Lock & Dam

Old Hickory Lock & Dam

Cheatham Lock & Dam

Barkley Lock & Dam

Project not designed for this purpose

Project primarily designed for this purpose

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Congressionally Authorized Project Purposes

Wolf Creek Dam Old Hickory Lock & Dam

Project Design ► Flood Damage Reduction

► 37 ft zone ► Volume - 2,094,000 acre-feet

► Hydropower ► 50 ft zone ► Volume – 2,142,000 acre-feet

Project Design ► Flood Surcharge Storage

► 5 ft zone ► Volume - 125,000 acre-feet

► Hydropower ► 3 ft zone ► Volume – 63,000 acre-feet

► Commercial Navigation

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540’

580’

620’

660’

700’

740’

760’

460 480 500 520 540 560 Cumberland River Mile

Elev

atio

n

Flood Control Pool

Pittsburgh District (17)

Scale and Impact to the System

Huntington District (35)

726’ Louisville District (20) May 2011

Level

Lake Cumberland Available Storage

(Reduced flooding by

1.2’ at Cairo, IL)

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The Water Management Challenge

Water Control Water Quality Balancing Act Project Authorized Purposes Environmental Statutes Changing Societal Values/Expectations

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Flood Damage Reduction

USACE Water

Management

Hydropower

Recreation

Environmental Stewardship

Navigation

Water Supply

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NWS

TVA

FEMA

USACE Water

Management

Hydropower

Recreation

Environmental Stewardship

Navigation Emergency Management

Towing Industry

TVA

Boaters

USFWS

EPA Environmental Organizations

KDFWR

Cumberland River Compact

TDEC

Private Utilities

TVA SEPA

KDFWR

TWRA

Recreation Interests

Public

Recreation Industry

Flood Damage Reduction

Water Supply

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Water Management Program

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Water Quality ► Data Collection

• 7 real-time water quality monitors • 4 real-time temperature • 62 stream sampling sites • 95 reservoir sampling sites

► Water Quality Modeling • Project specific CE-QUAL-W2 models • System water quality modeling

► Water Quality Restoration • Dissolved oxygen • Minimum flow

Water Management Program

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Water Management Program

Water Control Program Data Collection Program

• Project data from 10 multi-purpose projects

• 75 rainfall sites • 45 river stage sites

Hydrology, Hydraulic, and Reservoir Simulation Modeling

Reservoir System Operations

• Daily analysis of reservoir conditions

• Balance operating objectives

• Prepare 8-day forecast

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Nashville District Water Management ► Multidisciplinary staff – engineers & scientists ► Perform complete system analysis every day

Nashville District Hydropower Operators ► 24/7 operational support

Great Lakes & Ohio River Water Management ► Ohio/Mississippi flood control operations ► Program oversight

Federal Partners ► Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) ► National Weather Service ► U. S. Geological Survey

Water Management Team

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Water Management Center

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Flood Operations

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National Weather Service NWS generates observed radar rainfall 1

Flood Operations

Nashville WM runs hydrology models to forecast reservoir releases 2

Nashville USACE Water

Management

NWS uses forecast reservoir releases and rainfall to predict flood stages 3

Public

National Weather Service

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0

25,000

50,000

75,000

100,000

125,000

150,000

2/1 2/8 2/15 2/22 3/1 3/8 3/15 3/22 3/29 4/5 4/12 4/19 4/26 5/3 5/10

Flow

(cfs

)Discharge (cfs)

Inflow (cfs)

675

680

685

690

695

700

705

710

715

720

725

730

0

25,000

50,000

75,000

100,000

125,000

150,000

2/1 2/8 2/15 2/22 3/1 3/8 3/15 3/22 3/29 4/5 4/12 4/19 4/26 5/3 5/10

Head

wat

er (f

t)

Flow

(cfs

)Discharge (cfs)Inflow (cfs)Headwater (ft)

Wolf Creek Inflow & Discharge (2011)

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5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

2/1 2/8 2/15 2/22 3/1 3/8 3/15 3/22 3/29 4/5 4/12 4/19 4/26 5/3 5/10

Nas

hvill

e St

age

(ft)

Observed vs Natural River Stage for Nashville

Observed with ProjectsNatural River ConditionsFlood Stage

Cumberland River Stage at Nashville (2011)

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2013 Wolf Creek Dam Inflow & Discharge

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

1/1 1/16 1/31 2/15 3/2 3/17 4/1 4/16 5/1 5/16 6/1 6/16 7/1 7/16

Flow

(cfs

)

Discharge

Inflow

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Cumberland River Stage at Nashville

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

1/1 1/16 1/31 2/15 3/2 3/17 4/1 4/16 5/1 5/16 6/1 6/16 7/1 7/16

Nas

hvill

e St

age

(ft)

Observed vs Natural Stage for Nashville (2013)

Observed with ProjectsNatural River ConditionsFlood StageLow Water Navigation Impacts

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Protecting the Lower Ohio and Mississippi Rivers

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Protecting the Lower Ohio and Mississippi Rivers

Canal

Paducah

Cairo

Smithland Lock

Lock 52

Lock 53

Birds Point- New Madrid Floodway

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Kentucky-Barkley Canal

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National Weather Service

NWS forecasts flooding on the lower Ohio & upper Mississippi Rivers 1

Kentucky-Barkley Flood Operations

TVA & Nashville WM forecast inflows and reservoir stages on Kentucky & Barkley Lakes 2

Tennessee Valley Authority &

Nashville WM

LRD coordinates Kentucky & Barkley releases to reduce flooding on the Ohio & Mississippi 3 Kentucky &

Barkley Operators

Lakes & Rivers Division

Headquarters

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Operation Watershed 4/26/2011 – 5/4/2011

Rainfall & Project Operations Cumberland River Basin

Dale Hollow Dam

Cordell Hull Lock & Dam

Old Hickory Lock & Dam

Cheatham Lock & Dam

Barkley Lock & Dam

Wolf Creek Dam

J. Percy Priest Dam

Center Hill Dam

Storage conserved in Barkley and Kentucky

4.65 feet

Dale Hollow – 0.51’

Center Hill – 0.95’

Wolf Creek – 2.54’

J. Percy Priest – 0.65’

Top of Hydropower Pool

Top of Hydropower Pool

Top of Flood Control Pool

Top of Flood Control Pool

Top of Hydropower Pool

Storage at Peak Elevation

Available

Pie area scaled to storage capacity

Peak

695

700

705

710

715

720

725

730

4/12 4/22 5/2 5/12 5/22 6/1

Elev

atio

n (ft

)

Operation Watershed - Wolf Creek DamObservedWithout Reductions

650

652

654

656

658

660

662

664

4/12 4/22 5/2 5/12 5/22 6/1

Elev

atio

n (ft

)

Operation Watershed - Dale Hollow Dam

ObservedWithout Reductions

625

630

635

640

645

650

655

660

4/12 4/22 5/2 5/12 5/22 6/1

Elev

atio

n (ft

)

Operation Watershed - Center Hill DamObservedWithout Reductions

488

490

492

494

496

498

500

502

504

506

4/12 4/22 5/2 5/12 5/22 6/1

Elev

atio

n (ft

)

Operation Watershed - J. Percy Priest Dam

ObservedWithout Reductions

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Project Headwater

(02/24/2011) Headwater

Crest Water Stored

(acre-feet)

Wolf Creek1 681.12 725.96 1,992,000

Dale Hollow 643.75 660.16 459,000

Center Hill1 625.70 658.15 576,000

J. Percy Priest 483.75 501.65 280,000

Total 3,307,0002

Water Stored After February 24, 2011

1 Wolf Creek and Center Hill Dams have been classified as DSAC 1 dams and are under pool restrictions to assure the stability of the dams. 2 This volume of water is roughly equivalent to 1.08 quadrillion gallons of water or if stacked on a football field it would be 3.2 million feet (606 miles) high.

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Protecting the Lower Ohio and Mississippi Rivers

Canal

Paducah

Cairo

Smithland Lock

Lock 52

Lock 53

Birds Point- New Madrid Floodway

May 2011 Flood Stage Reduction at Cairo

2-ft (0.62-m) due to Cumberland River Projects 0.8-ft (0.24-m) due to Tennessee River Projects 3.8-ft (1.2-m) for all LRD Storage Projects

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Summary

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Cumberland River System Water Management

Requires coordinated operation of a complex system to fulfill a wide range of often competing purposes and benefits Flood Damage Reduction for the Cumberland as well as the

Ohio/Mississippi averages $149 M per year Hydropower production at nine plants worth ~$35 M per year Recreation valued at $568 M per year, the highest for a Corps

district in the nation Navigation for ~73 M tons of commodities per year over 1,175 river

miles with 14 lock & dams on the Tennessee & Cumberland Rivers

Cumberland River projects play a critical role in a regional system, including the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers

Federal Partners including Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), National Weather Service, and U.S. Geological Survey are important members of the water management team

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Questions?