TVA and Boone Lake Association working together to clear vegetation from Boone Lake

SULLIVAN COUNTY, Tenn-- The Tennessee Valley Authority and Boone Lake Association are working together to help clear debris and vegetation from dry exposed lake beds on Boone Lake.

Vegetation has grown on the lake beds making it look like a forest in some areas.

"We received so many e-mails, calls, and so forth from the people on Boone Lake who said TVA needs to help clean up the vegetation," said TVA spokesperson for the Boone Lake Project, Mary Ellen Miller.

Boone Lake Association Board member, Val Kosmider said they are mostly concerned about potential boating hazards when the lake returns to full pool.

"The stuff that’s being cut and mulched, some of it will lie fallow on the lake bed and that should be OK," said Kosmider. "What we're concerned about is the stuff that floats up to the surface."

The Tennessee Valley Authority said they are working on solutions to help mitigate the vegetation. In addition to mulching, they are spraying two herbicides on 500 acres of the lake bed.

Those chemicals, Imazapryl and Triclopyrl are EPA approved for aquatic areas.

The TVA said they would never use the herbicides or mulch on people's property without asking them first.

"This is supplemental vegetation management control," said Miller. "We also call it part of our 'good neighbor program' because it's really part of our effort to be a good neighbor and try to assist neighbors who live on the lake."

The TVA and Boone Lake Association are working together to use a skimmer boat to pick up debris floating on the surface of the lake.

"We will work with notifying homeowners that we are out there and available to remove debris," said Kosmider. "The second aspect for the project is to remove the vegetative matter that remains out there to make sure the lake and healthy as it can possibly be."

The TVA said they are still on track to begin raising lake levels next Spring, which could include full pool, in order to test the stability of the repair.

The lake is set to return to normal levels in Spring 2022, which would be at the end of the 7 year timeline.