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Show line terminals have been established at Knoxville and Chattanooga, and 11 river terminals have been established at six ports on the Tennessee River. Seven major distributing companies are served by these facilities. Knoxville now receives 40 percent of its gasoline supply by barges; prior to 1946 no river shipments were handled at that city. Pe- troleum products are shipped from Knoxville by truck and tank car throughout the east Tennessee region. Guntersville has become a major point for dis- tributing automobiles shipped by barge. In 1949 some 25,000 automobiles moved through that river terminal to 228 destinations in six States. Nearly all of the grain shipped on the Tennessee River comes to Decatur and Guntersville, Ala. Four grain terminals and storage elevators have been erected at these ports to distribute grain throughout the southeastern market. This has opened new agricultural opportunities for the farm- ers of the region. The potential commerce of these waterways is not yet fully developed. Each year new enterprises make use of river transport to move their products. Flood Control The waters of the Tennessee Basin accumulate along the courses of the mountain tributaries. Winter is the season of greatest flow, and in about 1 year out of 5 the flow reaches damaging propor- tions. Sixteen times in the past 80 years the crest of the natural river at Chattanooga either has ex- ceeded the 40-foot stage or would have exceeded it if reservoirs had not been in operation. Such floods caused or could cause large property losses. Much more frequently the river gage reaches the 30-foot mark, which is flood stage. Floods in the Tennessee River Drainage Basin Intense rainfall in a period of several days dur- ing the winter and spring months caused the great historic floods which have damaged much private property, highways, railroads, and other utilities. Intense floods have occurred not only on the main river but al so on most of the tributaries. The most serious local menace is at Chattanooga, but the damage at Asheville and Marshall on the French Broad, at Karriman on the Emory, and at many other points has been equally serious on occasion. The average damage from these floods was esti- mated in 1928 by the Corps of Engineers at approx- imately $1,780,000 annually.1* These estimates did not include losses due to interrupted traffic and business, disease due to the flooding of towns, and depreciation of land on account of overflow. Hence the estimates do not represent actual eco- nomic losses incurred. Because of increased de- velopment on the flood plains, such damage would be much greater today. Chattanooga provides an example of flood con- trol needs in the basin. The 1867 flood reached a stage of 57.9 feet and covered 9,000 acres, or a major part of the present Chattanooga urban area (figure 4). A flood stage like that of 1867 would cause estimated damage of approximately 100 mil- lion dollars today. Other floods of almost equal destructive force are recorded. In 1875, the river reached the stage of 53.8 feet, flooding 8,200 acres. Such a flood in 1948 would have caused a damage of approxi- mately 62 million dollars. In 1886, 7,850 acres were flooded, with estimated damage which would have been about 50 million dollars for the 1948 city. The fifth largest flood occurred after the present regulation works were in an advanced but not com- plete state, on January 9, 1946. The unregulated flow of the river on this date would have been suf- ficient to reach a stage of 45.8 feet, flooding 6,300 acres. It is estimated that on that date the flood damage to property would have been 12 million dollars, but the flood storage reservoirs reduced this to an actual stage of 35.7 feet, and only 2,800 acres were under water. The actual flood losses were about $200,000 and the saving to the community nearly 12 million dollars. Flood Control Works The flood control problem in the Tennessee Ba- sin cannot be met with levees or local protection works alone. A major part of control must be reservoir storage. During major flood seasons, there is now available a total of between 10.4 and 11.7 million acre-feet of flood storage. Table 2 indicates how these totals are divided among the reservoirs of the system. On the upper river Norris Reservoir is the major flood control unit. It lies in the foothills below the Cumberland Plateau and has a total storage 14 H. Doc. 328, 71st Cong., 2d scss., pp. 2, 29. 720 |