At Monday night’s February County Commission meeting, local resident Mack Reeves addressed the commission over concerns about decreased water levels and flow in two rivers that dissect the Sequatchie Valley in Marion County — the Sequatchie River and the Little Sequatchie River.
Mack Reeves addresses County Commissioners regarding concerns of the water levels and flow rate of the Sequatchie and Little Sequatchie Rivers in Marion County near Jasper… Staff Photo by Vicki Messer
Reeves, a former schoolteacher who now works as Attendance and Transportation Supervisor for the Marion County Board of Education, grew up on the banks of the rivers where his family has owned property in the Mineral Springs and Francis Springs communities for years. Reeves says his grandparents deeded the farmland property adjacent to the Sequatchie River at the confluence of the Little Sequatchie River when he was 19-years-old, and he has farmed the land running cattle in the years since.
The Little Sequatchie River starts as the combination of multiple mountain springs and streams in a very remote area of the Cumberland Plateau near the Grundy County – Marion County line, flowing 19.6 miles downstream through Coppinger Cove and the Sequatchie community, before joining the Sequatchie River just south of Francis Springs Road and east of TN-28.
The Sequatchie River originates in Cumberland County from several springs at or near Devilstep Hollow Cave and Brady Mountain with water that originates from the Grassy Cove community that lies just north of the Sequatchie Valley, meandering 116 miles until it reaches the Tennessee River just south of Jasper and just downstream from the Nickajack Dam.
Reeves sent photographs to commissioners ahead of last night’s meeting showing exactly how low river levels were as of October 30th, 2024, citing that the flow of the river and river level depths have been decreasing rapidly over the past 4-5 years, and he’s concerned that the two rivers will eventually dry-up.
“This valley, with the exception of South Pittsburg, gets their water out of the ‘Big’ Sequatchie River and Little Sequatchie River,” Reeves said as he addressed the commission. “I’m not against water…everybody needs clean water, but I think we’ve got the horse behind the cart. We’re putting water lines in, putting water in, but [the majority] of this valley gets their water out of these rivers, and we just have ‘X’ amount of water yet continually build and build.”
Staff Photo by Vicki Messer
Reeves continued by explaining how Pikeville at the north end of the valley gets water from seven wells in their area and Dunlap’s water is sourced from the Sequatchie River and other sources by the Tennessee American Water Company. He explained how recently several of Pikeville’s wells were unusable during the dry season and the city had to pull water from Dunlap’s supply, putting additional strain on the Sequatchie River’s flow.
“I don’t want us to get in the same shape as the Duck River and the Cumberland River got into which had environmentalists and conservation groups in there and finally put a limit on how much water they could actually pull out of the rivers.” Reeves said.
Reeves told commissioners that they need to start looking at a plan to get a system to draw water from the Tennessee River instead of just relying on the Sequatchie and Little Sequatchie for supply.
“I don’t want to see either of these two rivers stop running, or in fact dry-up, and that’s going to happen in the next 10 years if something isn’t done. I can walk across that river in October and [the water] not come up to my knees,” he said, in regards to October and winter months being one of the times of the year where the two rivers usually have their highest levels and flow rates versus the dryer summer months.
“We’ve got to do something about water…we want to give people water, and you (the commission) sit up here month after month wanting to give people water, but where is [the additional] water going to come from? Where are you going to get it?” He asked the commission.
“When you pull the river that low, not only do you lose the water supply, but look at the bank erosion you get because of lack of moisture in the banks and when you get a hard rain the banks fall off and you have soil erosion.”
Reeves mentioned how as a property owner along the river, this has affected him by losing land, stating he wasn’t here about himself and that issue, but that his concern is that he doesn’t want to see the two rivers stop running or see outside groups come in that dictate how things are managed.
He says his concern is that while Marion County continues to grow and build more homes, commercial properties, and other developments requiring water, the water supply is not going to meet the demand of this continued growth and development over time.
“Jasper used to get their water from the Blue Hole (a natural cave water source or spring located at the foot of Jasper Mountain just behind the former Jasper Middle School)…and still does except in extremely dry times,” said Reeves, mentioning that Jasper, too, does draw water from the Sequatchie River from a source in the Riverside area near the bridge on US-41.
“What I’m here for tonight is for members of this committee to make a concerted effort to start a long range plan to get water because we’re on the end… Dunlap is going to get theirs, if Pikeville needs it–they’ve got theirs, Whitwell gets theirs, and then Jasper is down here.”
Reeves asked the commission to get together to work on a long-term plan to work on water for residents in the lower portion of the valley that rely on the rivers for their supply.
“That’s why I’m here tonight,” Reeves informed the commissioners, “I’m not a ‘tree-hugger’, I’m just a caring-individual because I’ve been here all my life and those rivers mean a little bit to me.”
Commissioner Ruric Brandt asked Reeves what he would suggest they do.
Reeves stated that he knows Tennessee American Water is a private entity, so there wouldn’t be a lot of grants available to go out to the Tennessee River for a source, but suggested that a group talk to the officials with Tennessee American before we (the county) find themselves in a water shortage and have to find alternative means, such as trucking water into the valley for supply. He suggested that before the county finds themselves in a situation such as that, that long range plans should be made and meetings should happen with Tennessee American Water about a solution.
“When I can walk across [the Sequatchie River] five months out of the year and it not get above my knees…we’ve got a problem!” Reeves concluded, “We can’t ignore it.”
Commissioner Brandt asked Commission Chairman, Chris Morrison, if it were possible to put a special committee together and ask Mack Reeves to participate with them.
Chairman Morrison suggested that the issue be turned-over to the county’s Agricultural Committee, getting the issue into a committee first where it could be given some ‘formality’ before forming a special committee or sub-committee to further address the concerns and seek solutions.
Commissioner Brandt asked that the planning commission also be involved in the discussion after Reeves expressed concerns that this wasn’t just an agricultural issue, but something that would be an issue for residents as well if water runs low or dry.
Morrison says that while the ‘Ag Committee’ isn’t necessarily ideal, this would get the issue into a formal committee and from there they could go forward with discussions, plans, or even by getting any necessary studies on the issue.
Three members of the commission also sit on the county’s agricultural committee and made plans to discuss the topic further at an upcoming meeting of that group.
