The Hiwassee Dries is a highly desirable whitewater run that offers 10 miles of Class III/IV whitewater that drops an average of 40 feet per mile. Currently this reach is only available to paddlers when TVA's Apalachia Dam is spilling a significant amount of water. The dewatering of this river has significant recreational and environmental impacts that should be mitigated by the TVA.

Check out a film of the run here: https://vimeo.com/156623371

American Whitewater worked to restore releases through TVA's Reservoir Operation Study from 2003-2005, but TVA wrongly dismissed our requests as out of scope. We remain interested in restoring a more natural flow regime to Hiwassee River, which is currently listed as impaired due to flow alteration by the State of Tennessee. TVA itself admits that the flow regime is devastating the endangered plant Ruth's golden aster, which lives only on the Ocoee and Hiwassee River. The plant is thriving under the Ocoee release regime, and tanking under the complete lack of releases from Apalachia Dam.