Tennessee Valley Authority
Cedar Creek Reservoir
Contents of this page
Ecological health rating
Cedar Creek Reservoir rated fair in 2005 monitoring by TVA.
Swimming advisories
The state of Alabama has not issued any advisories against swimming in Cedar Creek Reservoir.
Fish consumption advisories
The state of Alabama has not issued any advisories against consuming fish from Cedar Creek Reservoir.
Related Links
More about Cedar Creek Reservoir
Sport
fishing ratings
Get
the facts on the availability of important sport species.
Spring
sportfish survey results
View
the results from TVA’s latest black bass population survey.
General information
Monitoring
river conditions
Find
out how TVA evaluates the river system’s ecological health
and suitability for human use.
Ecological health rating
TVA monitored Cedar Creek Reservoir annually from 1993 to 1997 to establish baseline data on the reservoir’s ecological health under a range of weather and flow conditions. Cedar Creek is now monitored every other year.
Cedar Creek rated fair in 2005. The overall ecological health score for the reservoir has been in the fair range since TVA began monitoring it in 1993.
Cedar Creek Reservoir Ecological Health Ratings, 1994-2005
Click chart for raw data.
The table below shows the ratings for individual ecological health indicators at Cedar Creek in 2005. These ratings are briefly explained in the paragraphs that follow.
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Dissolved oxygen
In 2005, as in previous years, the lower half of the water column had low dissolved oxygen during the summer months, with some areas completely devoid of oxygen.
Chlorophyll
As in earlier monitoring, the average summer chlorophyll concentrations were low in 2005, earning the reservoir a good rating for this indicator.
Fish
The fish community rated good. Monitoring showed a good variety of species, but the catch rate was lower than expected.
Bottom life
Bottom life rated fair in 2005, primarily because of the low number and low variety of animals found in samples collected from the reservoir bottom. Ratings for bottom life in Cedar Creek tend to fluctuate from year to year. Because there are so few bottom-dwelling animals (due to low dissolved oxygen), the ratings are easily influenced by the presence or absence of a few species.
Sediment
As in previous years, sediment quality rated good because no pesticides or PCBs were detected and concentrations of metals were within expected background levels.
Swimming advisories
TVA has not issued any swimming advisories for Cedar Creek Reservoir.
E. coli bacteria levels in samples collected in 2007 were within Environmental Protection Agency’s suggested guidelines for water contact.
The following site was sampled in 2007:
| Site Name | Location | County / State |
Slickrock Ford Beach |
Cedar Creek Mile 30.4 |
Franklin / TN |
Fish consumption advisories
There are no fish consumption advisories for Cedar Creek Reservoir. TVA collected channel catfish and largemouth bass from the reservoir for tissue analysis in fall 2003. The results, which were similar to those of previous years, were provided to state agencies in Alabama. TVA will analyze fish from the reservoir again in autumn 2007.
