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Knoxvillians love their lakes—

and nothing can be so discourag-

ing as to see a lake filled with trash.

For many years, Knoxvillians were

concerned about Fort Loudoun Lake.

“Trash and debris—including tires,

dead animals, and fallen trees—were

floating in and down the waterway and

collecting on the side,” says Angela

Howard, current Executive Director

of the Fort Loudoun Lake Association

(FLLA). “There was nobody respon-

sible for clean up.” And so, in 2006,

a group of Knoxville businesspeople

founded the FLLA, an organization

committed to “promoting the eco-

nomic benefit and quality of life value

of clean water” in Fort Loudoun Lake.

The FLLA monitors Fort Loudoun

Lake from the beginning of the Ten-

nessee River, where the Holston

and French Broad Rivers come

together, down to the Fort Loud-

oun Dam. “We actually monitor 50

miles of the river,” says Howard.

With only one full-time and one part-

time zone manager monitoring eight

zones of the river, it’s all the organiza-

tion can do to keep the largest and

most hazardous trash out of the water.

The zone managers, currently Jake

Hudson and Kirk Forgety, focus mainly

on larger objects, such as fallen trees,

removing them from the water to clear

the path for boaters. They also watch

the riverbanks for signs of erosion.

“I don’t think people really un-

derstand how big an impact this

organization has on the quality of

the water around us,” says Board of

Directors member David Kiger. Kiger

was one of the founding directors of

the organization. He adds that, “One

person can make a big difference to

the organization,” as all donations

are used to directly fund the person-

nel who are out on the water daily.

The FLLA must rely on volunteers

to help their fulltime staff by collect-

ing the trash along the riverbank, but

with 356 miles of shoreline in their

purview, the task sometimes seems

impossible. Ideally, the FLLA would like

to extend its reach to care for a larger

area. “The possibilities are endless—

the watershed is huge,” says Howard.

But for now, their focus is on caring

for the 56 miles of lake for which they

are responsible. You can check the

calendar on their website for scheduled

“cleanup days” or contact the organiza-

tion directly if you’d like to help out.

In addition to trash collection, the

FLLA also has a scientist on staff,

Mike Gaugler, Ph.D., who “monitors

storm water management and the

health of streams and creeks through

biological testing for pathogens,”

says Howard. Their organization

works with government agencies

like the EPA and other water qual-

ity agents to study what the system

needs and to eliminate hazardous

items, such as E. Coli, from the lake.

In addition to cleanup days, the FLLA

hosts events throughout the year that

raise both funds and awareness for

their cause. The annual Raising of the

Water Celebration commemorates the

opening of the lake to boaters each

spring and features live music, food,

and an auction. This year, the Paddle

for Clean Water offered Knoxvillians a

chance to paddle canoes and kayaks

for five miles through downtown Knox-

ville, while regular social gatherings

allow the community to stay involved

and connected to the organization.

The FLLA also focuses on educat-

ing the community about how to keep

the lake and river clean for many

years to come. Eliminating trash and

littering is a step in the right direc-

tion, says Howard, but there are also

problems that you can’t see. Though

the river has been cleaned up due to

EPA regulations, runoff from agricul-

ture and industry, as well as runoff

from neighborhoods, businesses,

and parking lots, can cause serious

harm. “People often don’t realize that

when you pressure wash your home,

or wash your car, the chemicals you

use to clean flow down your driveway

and into the sewer and then into the

lakes and rivers,” says Howard.

Fort Loudoun Lake Association

ASSOCIATION PROFILE

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