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Tennessee River
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TENNESSEE RIVER RIVER
Length: 650 miles (1,046 kilometers)
Tennessee River is the principal tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 650 miles long; formed by the confluence of the Holston and French Broad rivers near Knoxville, Tennessee, and follows a U-shaped course to enter the Ohio R. at Paducah, Kentucky. Its drainage basin covers approximately 41,000 square miles and includes parts of seven states. Navigation was long impeded by variations in channel depths and by rapids, such as Muscle Shoals, Alabama. However, the TVA (est. 1933) converted the river into a chain of lakes held back by nine major dams (Kentucky, Pickwick Landing, Wilson, Wheeler, Guntersville, Nickajack, Chickamauga, Watts Bar, and Fort Loudoun). As a result of these improvements, river traffic has increased, flooding has been controlled, a water-oriented recreation industry has been established, and hydroelectric power generated at the dams has attracted new industries to the region. A canal, completed in the 1980s, links the Tennessee River with the Gulf of Mexico by way of the Tombigee River. During the Civil War, the Tennessee River was a prime approach for a Union invasion of the South.
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Lakes on the Tennessee River River
(in order of flow)
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Lake Name
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Full Pool
(MSL)
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Acres
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Map
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Fort Loudoun
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813.0
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14,600
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Watts Bar
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741.0
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39,000
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Chickamauga
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683.0
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34,500
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Nickajack
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634.0
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10,900
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Guntersville
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595.4
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67,900
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Wheeler
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556.3
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67,100
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Wilson
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507.9
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15,930
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Pickwick
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414.0
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43,100
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Kentucky
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359.0
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160,300
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Little Bear
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1,560
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Upper Bear
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1,850
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Bear Creek
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670
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