Tennessee Valley Authority land policies : The case of Meigs County, Tennessee

This thesis identifies land acquisition and disposal policies of the Tennessee Valley Authority and analyzes the effects of one acquisition policy and all disposal policies on the Meigs County, Tennessee portion of Watts Bar Lake. The Tennessee Valley Authority has had three land acquisition policies and three land disposal policies from the agency's beginning in 1933 through 1975. Acquisition policies have been (1) the "buy" policy of purchasing half again as much land as was flooded, (2) the "under-buy" policy of purchasing land only if ownership were essential, and (3) the "over-buy" policy of purchasing a wide margin of land around a reservoir. Disposal policies have been (1) the "no-sell" policy of retaining all excess land, (2) the "sell-excess" policy of disposing of excess land that could not be justified for retention, and (3) the "controlled-sell" policy of selling land only if the agency were satisfied that commercial development was assured. The TVA land policies have had varied effects on land use in the study area. More than half of the excess land purchased under the "buy" acquisition policy in Meigs County for Watts Bar Reservoir has been retained by TVA. The agency has done little to develop retained land. Most of it is idle. Effects of the policies on land sold to the public are reflected in fragmentation, absentee ownership, undesirable development, and inflated prices of lakefront parcels.