Clinch River

Catchment area of ​​the Clinch River

Clinch River at Speers Ferry in Scott County

Template: Infobox River / Obsolete

The Clinch River is a 483 km long right tributary of the Tennessee River in the southwestern Virginia and east Tennessee in the USA.

River

The Clinch River has its origin at the Buckhorn Mountain in Tazewell County, Virginia. It flows in a southwesterly direction to Tennessee. The Clinch River is dammed twice: by Norris Dam, the first of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA ) built dam, and the Melton Hill Dam, the only one not located on the main power TVA dam, which has a lock. In Kingston the Clinch River empties into the Tennessee River.

An important tributary of the Clinch River is the Powell River. The catchment areas of the rivers is separated by the Powell Mountain. Between the two dams the Clinch River following rivers flow to: Coal Creek, Bull Run Creek and Beaver Creek. Poplar Creek opens below the Melton Hill Dam in the Clinch River.

History

A peninsula at the mouth of the Clinch River, the so-called "South West Point ," was the site of a fortress, Fort Southwest Point, which was recently rebuilt. The place was for the indigenous people of importance. A treaty between the Cherokee and the settlers was signed here and allowed the transfer of the capital of Tennessee at this place.

The river was once called " Clinch 's River " or " Pelisipi River". A large coal-fired power plant is located on the Clinch River, located at Carbo in Russell County. It was built in 1957 and is one of Appalachian Power, a division of American Electric Power. On 25 June 2008, the construction of a new coal power plant was approved a few kilometers away near St. Paul for Dominion Virginia Power from the Air Pollution Control Board of Tennessee.

The pollution of soil and waters of the region by mining are the focus of environmentalists. In particular, therefore, because several rare animal species in the Clinch River live. Early 2000s were settled in the area around Cleveland mussels again, the population disappeared by the pollution of the water in the 20th century.

2008 reached fly ash in the lower section of the river of the Clinch River, below the mouth of the Emory River.

Ecology

In the Clinch River above Clinton and below the Norris Dam, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is composed of rainbow trout and brown trout.

Before the Clinch River was dammed, the river was an important habitat for freshwater mussels and a major supplier of freshwater pearls. The rivers in the southern Appalachians are remarkable for their rich biodiversity of shells.

Mussels were once part of the original population is an important part of the diet. The settlers used the shells as fish bait and as pig feed. The freshwater pearl industry flourished late 19th and early 20th century. Clinch River and Emory River were the center of this industry. Tennessee was among the six states with the largest freshwater pearl production. With the construction of the TVA dams that time of the mussel - based industry came to an end.

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