East Tennessee Waterways

I recently received a call on a piece of property that had a beautiful mountain creek flowing through it. One of the first questions I was asked was “Do water rights come with the property?” Honestly, I didn’t know how to answer the question! I came to find out that the buyer was from the southwest, and was looking for a property in the east to get away from the water issues of the west.

While parts of the country fight over water, East Tennessee has an overabundance of it. The fact is that, for the most part, we do not have to deal with water rights in East Tennessee. To the west we have the Cumberland Plateau, which is full of free-flowing rivers and streams, forming stunning waterfalls and gorges as they carve away at the sandstone formation. To the east, we have the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, where within the Smoky Mountain National park alone we have over 800 miles of fishable waterways; not to mention all of the springs and tributaries to them.

Most of the water that drains from these two geologic formations end up in the Tennessee River Valley, where TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) and others manage over a dozen lakes. Together we have over 1,000 square miles of water surface and 11,000 miles of shoreline in East Tennessee alone! Needless to say, there is plenty of water to go around. All of this water provides endless value from a number of perspectives, including farming, recreation and a quality of life that is hard to find elsewhere. If water is a concern when it comes to purchasing property, I would be happy to share with you all that East Tennessee has to offer.