Parksville
(Ocoee No. 1) Reservoir
Ecological
health rating
Ecological health conditions in Parksville Reservoir rated good in 2011, similar to recent years. Parksville typically rated fair until 2006 but has rated good to “high fair” each year since. Improvements in bottom life contributed to the higher overall reservoir scores. The lower reservoir score (poor) in 1999 was due to concurrent low scores for bottom life and fish.
TVA monitors one location on Parksville Reservoir (the deep, still water near the dam), usually on a two-year cycle.
Parksville
Reservoir Ecological Health Ratings, 1994-2011
Click chart for raw
data.
The table below
shows the ratings for individual ecological health indicators at Parksville
in 2011. These ratings are briefly explained in the paragraphs that follow.
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Ecological
Health Indicators at
Parksville Reservoir, 2011
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Monitoring
location
|
Dissolved
oxygen
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Chlorophyll
|
Fish
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Bottom
life
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Sediment
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| Forebay |
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Dissolved oxygen
Dissolved oxygen rated good, the same as in all previous years except in 2005 and 2006 when it rated fair due to a small area of low dissolved oxygen (less than two milligrams per liter) near the reservoir bottom in late autumn.
Chlorophyll
Consistent with previous years, chlorophyll concentrations were low, as expected given the nutrient-poor soils in the surrounding watershed. The result was a good rating for this indicator.
Fish
The fish community rated fair, similar to most previous years. Fish density and diversity have been relatively low in Parksville Reservoir. The fish assemblage rated poor (just below the breakpoint for fair) in 1999, primarily due to the collection of only a few fish.
Bottom life
Bottom life received a good rating in 2011. Ratings for this indicator have improved in recent years. Bottom life also rated good in 2007 and 2009 compared to rating at the high end of the fair range in 2005 and 2006 and either poor or at the low end of the fair range in earlier years. Improvements in ratings have been the result of increases in the number and variety of organisms collected.
Sediment
Sediment quality remains the most important ecological health issue for Parksville Reservoir. Past mining practices in the Copper Basin left a legacy of very high concentrations of several metals: arsenic, copper, iron, lead, and zinc. In addition, historically, elevated amounts of PCBs have been found in the sediment. Concentrations of PCBs and several metals appear to be decreasing through time, although concentrations remain above normal levels.
See definitions of ecological health indicators and monitoring locations. |
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Fish
consumption advisories
Parksville Reservoir - TVA maintains a program to examine contaminants in fish fillets from TVA reservoirs and their major tributary streams on a rotational basis. The data collected from this program is distributed to the state officials who are responsible for placing or removing fish tissue consumption advisories on those bodies of water. For information on advisories currently in effect for Parksville Reservoir, visit the Water Quality Division of Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation’s web page. http://www.tn.gov/environment/water.shtml
Tennessee Valley Authority
