| Tellico Dam | |
|---|---|
 The main concrete gravity structure for Tellico Dam, pictured here in 2013. | |
| Official name | Tellico Dam |
| Location |  Loudon County, Tennessee, U.S. near Lenoir City |
| Coordinates | 35°46′40″N 84°15′35″W / 35.77778°N 84.25972°W |
| Purpose | |
| Construction began | March 7, 1967[1] |
| Opening date | November 29, 1979[2] |
| Construction cost | $116 million[2][3] (487 million in 2023 dollars[4]) |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Concrete gravity dam and earth embankment dam |
| Impounds | Little Tennessee River |
| Height | 129 ft (39 m)[5] |
| Length | 3,238 ft (987 m)[5] |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Tellico Reservoir |
| Total capacity | 467,600 acre⋅ft (576,800,000 m3)[5] |
| Catchment area | 2,627 sq mi (6,800 km2)[5] |
| Surface area | 14,200 acres (5,700 ha)[5] |
Tellico Dam is a concrete gravity and earthen embankment dam on the Little Tennessee River that was built by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in Loudon County, Tennessee. Planning for a dam structure on the Little Tennessee was reported as early as 1936 but was deferred for development until 1942. Completed in 1979, the dam created the Tellico Reservoir and is the last dam to be built by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Unlike the agency's previous dams built for hydroelectric power and flood control, the Tellico Dam was primarily constructed as an economic development and tourism initiative through the planned city concept of Timberlake, Tennessee. The development project aimed to support a population of 42,000 in a rural region in poor economic conditions.
Referred to as a pork barrel, the Tellico Dam is the subject of several controversies regarding the need of its construction and the impacts the structure had on the surrounding environment. Inundation of the Little Tennessee required the acquisition of thousands of acres, predominantly multi-generational farmland and historic sites such as the Fort Loudoun settlement and several Cherokee tribal villages including Tanasi, the origin of Tennessee's name. Most of the acreage around the final lakeshore, originally seized through eminent domain, was sold to private developers to create retirement-oriented golf resort communities such as Tellico Village and Rarity Bay.
The Tellico Dam project was also controversial because of the risk it was believed to pose to the endangered snail darter fish species. Environmentalist groups took the TVA to court as a means to halt the project and protect the snail darter. The court action delayed the final completion of the dam for over two years. In the 1978 case Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill heard by the Supreme Court of the United States, the court ruled in favor of the environmental groups and declared that the completion of Tellico Dam was illegal.[6] However, the dam was completed and filling of the reservoir commenced in November 1979, after the project was exempted from the Endangered Species Act with the passing of the 1980 public works appropriations bill by the United States Congress and President Jimmy Carter.
- ^ Plater, Zygmunt J.B. (May 9, 2013). "Annotated Timeline of TVA v. Hill and Related Events" (PDF). University of Tennessee. Boston College Law School. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
waterywas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
emd-77-58was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "Tellico Dam". National Performance of Dams Program, National Inventory of Dams. Stanford University. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
- ^ Morrissey, Connor (December 11, 2018). "The Tennessee Valley Authority: A Timeline of Controversy". Medium.com. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2022.