Connected by Water, United by Purpose
by Clay Guerry, TVA Senior Program Manager
I am a lifelong lover of rivers. Most of the spatial decisions of my adult life have centered around them. My choice of Graduate school, Clemson University, was in no small part made because of its proximity to the Chattooga River. My decision to move to Knoxville was grounded in its proximity to the drainages of the Cumberland Plateau, Smokies, and Cherokee National Forest, and I actually took a pay cut to be closer to my favorite rivers. It’s easy to love a river on the National Wild and Scenic Rivers list like the Chattooga, but it takes a true vision to love and reframe a river with a storied past that is sitting literally in our own back yards.
And yet here we are. The following will be a brief summary of my journey downstream, as it were.
Around ten years ago, I got an invite to attend a University of Tennessee led meeting about river exploration. I wasn’t really sure what it was exactly about, but I went. That was the first day Brad and I met. Many prospective, now active, partners sat around a table listening to the idea of creating what we all know today. I will be honest: I have been labeled a “river purist” in the past, and it took me quite a bit to wrap my head around this novel idea of re-framing a river and landscape I drive over and by daily.
Ok, it’s a blueway? Got it. A series of access points connected by water. I have worked on many blue-way projects over the years. These projects, in their basic form, consist of mapping and signing access points, campsites, and other points of interest to paddlers, and poof—there ya go. But that’s not all for this venture, is it?
Over the next few years, I served as behind-the-scenes support wherever I could help. I attended planning meetings, contributed when needed, and I was always happy to learn more and watch this effort progress along its journey.
After sitting in an eddy for a bit, I pulled out into the current when I became the main contact for the partnership. Not long after, TVA became a principal partner in the effort, and that’s when the paddle cadence really picked up.
Fast forward to about five years ago at the official launch of the Tennessee RiverLine on the shores of the Tennessee River in Knoxville. I knew it would be an impactful event, but I was not prepared for the outpouring of diverse individuals, communities, leaders, and river rats that would give their time and travel to show up for this novel idea. There is a saying in whitewater kayaking: “If you are scouting a rapid and can’t muster spit, you may want to consider a portage”. While it works really well, what this is really getting at is if you are that trepidatious, it’s probably a good idea not to do it; hone your skills on less challenging rapids, and come back when it’s your day. That day on the banks of the Tennessee River felt like this is the day to run this rapid.
We are here, we are ready, let’s paddle!
Over the last five years, I have witnessed the Tennessee RiverLine RiverTowns Program grow in both numbers and energy. It is truly amazing to see communities representing rural, urban, and anywhere in between come together to achieve a common goal. The time and effort put into the extraordinary amount of stewardship and recreation events is nothing short of amazing. With 11.5 million dollars already committed to infrastructure, the true brick-and-mortar projects we have all been so excited about are starting to come into clear focus. These projects, together with the energy and time already invested, make it quite obvious that not only is it possible to reframe a space, but it is, in fact, happening before our very eyes. I will end with a quote that quite literally woke me up at three o’clock in the morning, and I rushed to write it down before it escaped me: “The Tennessee River connects us by water, the Tennessee RiverLine connects us by purpose.”
